Binary Translator: Binary to Text and Text to Binary

This free binary translator converts text to binary code and binary back to text as you type. Type in the left box to get the 0s and 1s, or paste binary into the right box to decode it. It also shows the same text in hexadecimal and decimal, and works with accented letters, every language and emoji.

Text

Binary

Space between bytes

Hexadecimal

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Decimal (byte values)

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Bytes: 0. Text is encoded as UTF-8, the standard used by the web. Everything runs in your browser. Your text is never sent to or stored on our server.

Quick answer: To convert text to binary, type in the Text box. To convert binary to text, paste the 0s and 1s into the Binary box, in groups of 8 digits. For example, 01001000 01101001 means “Hi”.

How to use the binary translator

To encode, type or paste text into the Text box. The binary appears on the right as you type.
To decode, paste 0s and 1s into the Binary box. The text appears on the left.
Untick Space between bytes if you need one long string of digits.
Click Copy binary or Copy text to use the result.

How binary code represents text

Computers store everything as bits, which are either 0 or 1. Eight bits make a byte, which can hold any number from 0 to 255. To store text, each character is given a number, and that number is written in binary:

“H” is number 72, which is 01001000 in binary.
“i” is number 105, which is 01101001.
So “Hi” is 01001000 01101001.

The numbers come from a standard character table. Plain English letters, digits and punctuation use the original ASCII codes, one byte each. Everything else, from “é” to “₹” to emoji, uses UTF-8, which takes two to four bytes per character. That is why “é” becomes 11000011 10101001. This translator uses UTF-8, the encoding used by almost every web page, so its results match what computers really store.

Binary letters A to Z

Letter	Binary	Letter	Binary
A	`01000001`	a	`01100001`
B	`01000010`	b	`01100010`
C	`01000011`	c	`01100011`
D	`01000100`	d	`01100100`
E	`01000101`	e	`01100101`
F	`01000110`	f	`01100110`
G	`01000111`	g	`01100111`
H	`01001000`	h	`01101000`
I	`01001001`	i	`01101001`
J	`01001010`	j	`01101010`
K	`01001011`	k	`01101011`
L	`01001100`	l	`01101100`
M	`01001101`	m	`01101101`
N	`01001110`	n	`01101110`
O	`01001111`	o	`01101111`
P	`01010000`	p	`01110000`
Q	`01010001`	q	`01110001`
R	`01010010`	r	`01110010`
S	`01010011`	s	`01110011`
T	`01010100`	t	`01110100`
U	`01010101`	u	`01110101`
V	`01010110`	v	`01110110`
W	`01010111`	w	`01110111`
X	`01011000`	x	`01111000`
Y	`01011001`	y	`01111001`
Z	`01011010`	z	`01111010`

Notice the pattern: capital letters start with 010 and small letters with 011. The only difference between “A” and “a” is one bit, which is how computers switch case so quickly (our case converter does exactly that).

How to read binary by hand

Split the binary into groups of 8 digits.
Give each position a value, from left to right: 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1.
Add up the values where there is a 1. For 01001000 that is 64 + 8 = 72.
Look up the number in an ASCII table: 72 is “H”.

FAQ

Why do I get strange characters when I decode binary?

The binary is probably missing a digit or uses a different encoding. Check that every group has exactly 8 digits. The tool tells you if the count of digits isn’t a multiple of 8.

Can I paste binary without spaces?

Yes. The translator splits a long run of 0s and 1s into bytes of 8 automatically. It ignores any other characters, such as commas.

How do emoji look in binary?

Most emoji take 4 bytes, or 32 bits, in UTF-8. Type one into the text box to see it. If you like playing with special characters, see how to add Unicode symbols to X posts.

What is hexadecimal?

Hexadecimal (base 16) writes each byte as two characters from 0-9 and A-F, so 01001000 becomes 48. Programmers use it because it is much shorter than binary and still maps neatly onto bytes.