Binary Translator: Text to Binary & Back
Type text or binary: it converts both ways as you type, in binary, hexadecimal or decimal.
Binary alphabet: A–Z and a–z in binary
How to use the binary translator
- Type or paste text in the left box. Its bytes appear on the right, eight binary digits per byte.
- To decode, paste binary into the right box. Groups can be separated by spaces, commas or new lines; binary with no spaces is read eight digits at a time.
- Switch to hexadecimal or decimal to see the same bytes in base 16 or base 10.
- Copy either side with its Copy button.
How text becomes binary
A computer stores each character as one or more bytes, and a byte is eight binary digits. This translator uses UTF-8, the encoding of the web: A is 65, which is 01000001 in binary; é takes two bytes (11000011 10101001); an emoji takes four.
Hexadecimal and decimal are the same bytes written in base 16 and base 10: A is 41 in hexadecimal and 65 in decimal.
Binary to text and binary to English
To turn binary code into text, paste it into the Binary box and read the result on the left: 01001000 01101001 is Hi. The same box works as a binary code translator for messages in any language, because the bytes are read as UTF-8.
Once the binary is decoded, the button under the boxes opens the result in the text translator, so a decoded message in another language can be read in English.
Hex to text and text to hex
Choose Hexadecimal, then paste hex bytes separated by spaces into the right box to get the text: 48 69 is Hi. Type in the left box instead to convert text to hex.
Binary to ASCII
For plain English letters, digits and punctuation, UTF-8 uses the same codes as ASCII, so the binary here is the ASCII binary: A is 01000001 and a is 01100001. The binary alphabet below lists every letter. Letters with accents and emoji are outside ASCII and take two to four bytes.
Frequently asked questions
How do you write hello in binary?
01101000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111: one byte for each of the five letters.
Why does each letter have eight digits?
Each letter is one byte, and a byte is eight bits. Leading zeros are kept so every byte has the same length.
Why does é have sixteen digits?
In UTF-8, letters outside basic English take two or more bytes: é is 11000011 10101001. Emoji take four bytes.
Can I convert hexadecimal or decimal to text?
Yes. Choose Hexadecimal or Decimal, then paste the bytes into the right box, separated by spaces.
Is the text I type uploaded?
No. The conversion runs in your browser, so nothing you type is sent to a server.