Text to binary converter (and binary to text)
This text to binary converter works in both directions – type your text, pick a format, done: every character is split into its bytes and written as a binary, hex, decimal or octal number. In the other direction the tool turns code back into readable text. A table below the result shows which character has which code.
Source: § 3 UTF-8 definition, IETF RFC 3629 – UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO 10646. Updated: .
How it is calculated
A computer stores text as numbers: every character gets a code, and the code is written in bytes – eight bits, i.e. zeros and ones. “H” is the number 72, 01001000 in binary, 48 in hexadecimal. This tool shows that translation for any text.
How to convert text to binary
- Type or paste your text.
- Choose a number system: binary, hexadecimal, decimal (these are the familiar ASCII values) or octal.
- Change the separator if needed and copy the result.
Translating binary back to text
Choose “Code → text” and paste the code. Values may be separated by spaces, commas or line breaks; without a separator fixed blocks are formed (8 bits, 2 hex digits, 3 octal digits). Prefixes like 0x, 0b or \x are accepted.
ASCII, Unicode and UTF-8
ASCII (RFC 20) knows only 128 characters – unaccented letters, digits, punctuation and control characters – and needs 7 bits. For accents, other scripts and emoji there is Unicode; UTF-8 (RFC 3629) writes a Unicode character as 1 to 4 bytes. The first 128 characters are identical to ASCII, so “Hello” gives the same bytes either way. “é”, however, is two bytes in UTF-8 (C3 A9) but one in ISO 8859-1 (E9). The table below the result shows this character by character.
Limits
- Binary code is not encryption, only another way of writing the same data.
- When you paste binary from elsewhere you need to know its encoding: if it is wrong you get odd characters or the message “not valid UTF-8”.
- Pure numbers between number systems (no text) are handled by the number system converter.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert text to binary?
Type the text and choose “Text → code” with the format “Binary”. Each character appears as eight zeros and ones, e.g. H = 01001000.
How do I convert binary to text?
Choose “Code → text” and the format “Binary”, paste the code (eight digits per character, with or without spaces). The plain text appears immediately.
How many bits is a letter?
A plain letter such as “a” takes one byte in ASCII and UTF-8, i.e. 8 bits (7 would be enough, the eighth is 0). An accented letter takes two bytes in UTF-8, an emoji four.
What is the difference between ASCII and Unicode?
ASCII has 128 characters. Unicode has over 150,000 characters from nearly all scripts; UTF-8 is the most common way to write them as bytes and is identical to ASCII for the first 128.
What are the ASCII values in decimal?
Choose the format “Decimal”: the output is the familiar ASCII codes, e.g. A = 65, a = 97, digit 0 = 48, space = 32.
Is my text stored anywhere?
No. The conversion runs in your browser; the text is not sent, not stored and not added to the address bar.
Sources and legal basis
- § 3 UTF-8 definition: IETF RFC 3629 – UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO 10646
- IETF RFC 20 – ASCII format for Network Interchange
- WHATWG Encoding Standard (TextEncoder/TextDecoder, UTF-8-Dekodierung mit Fehlerabbruch)
As of:
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