Morse Code Translator
A free Morse code translator that turns text into dots and dashes and decodes Morse back into text. It follows International Morse Code, the version standardized by the International Telecommunication Union.
Example result
How to Use the Morse Code Translator
Type into the box with Text to Morse selected and the code appears below. To decode, switch to Morse to Text and paste your code using a period for a dot and a hyphen for a dash. Put a space between letters and a slash between words, so HI MOM is written .... .. / -- --- --.
The Morse Code Alphabet
| Character | Code | Character | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | .- | S | ... |
| B | -... | T | - |
| C | -.-. | U | ..- |
| D | -.. | V | ...- |
| E | . | W | .-- |
| F | ..-. | X | -..- |
| G | --. | Y | -.-- |
| H | .... | Z | --.. |
| I | .. | 1 | .---- |
| J | .--- | 2 | ..--- |
| K | -.- | 3 | ...-- |
| L | .-.. | 4 | ....- |
| M | -- | 5 | ..... |
| N | -. | 6 | -.... |
| O | --- | 7 | --... |
| P | .--. | 8 | ---.. |
| Q | --.- | 9 | ----. |
| R | .-. | 0 | ----- |
The standard also defines punctuation such as the period, comma, question mark, and parentheses. Some signs have no code at all, and the standard says how to spell them out: a multiplication sign is sent as the letter X, and a percent sign as 0/0.
How Morse Code Timing Works
Morse is a rhythm, not just a pattern of symbols. ITU-R Recommendation M.1677-1 measures everything in dot lengths:
- A dash lasts as long as three dots.
- The gap between the dots and dashes inside one letter is one dot.
- The gap between two letters is three dots.
- The gap between two words is seven dots.
Written Morse stands in for those gaps: a space for the gap between letters and a slash for the longer gap between words. The slash is a convention for text, not part of the radio standard.
SOS in Morse Code
SOS is three dots, three dashes, three dots. As a distress signal it is sent as one continuous signal, ...---..., with no gaps between the letters; this tool encodes the letters separately as ... --- .... It became the international distress signal under the radiotelegraph convention signed in Berlin in 1906. The letters do not stand for anything such as "save our souls"; the sequence was chosen as a distinctive signal, not an abbreviation.
Is Morse Code Still Used?
Versions of Morse code have been in use since 1844. The ITU notes that it is still used in amateur and amateur-satellite radio, and to a diminishing extent in other radio services.
Other encoders: the binary translator, Pig Latin translator, upside down text, and glitch text.