Text to Binary Converter

This text to binary converter writes each character of your text as 8-bit bytes of 0s and 1s, and translates binary code back into readable text. It uses UTF-8, so any language works.

Updated
Runs in your browser. Your text is not uploaded.
Direction
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How to use the Text to Binary Converter

        
  1. Choose Text → Binary or Binary → text.
  2. Type text, or paste binary in groups of 8 bits.
  3. Copy the result.



                    

            
How it works

        
Each character is encoded as UTF-8, and every byte is written as 8 binary digits. The letter H has the code 72, and 72 in binary is 01001000.
H = 72 = 01001000
i = 105 = 01101001
Decoding reads the bits in groups of 8 and turns the bytes back into characters.



                    

            
Examples

        
  • Hi = 01001000 01101001.
  • A = 01000001.
  • 01101111 01101011 = ok.
  • € = 11100010 10000010 10101100 (three bytes).



                    

            
Letters in binary

        
CharacterDecimalBinary
A6501000001
B6601000010
C6701000011
D6801000100
E6901000101
F7001000110
G7101000111
H7201001000
I7301001001
J7401001010
K7501001011
L7601001100
M7701001101
a9701100001
b9801100010
c9901100011
d10001100100
e10101100101
f10201100110
g10301100111
h10401101000
i10501101001
j10601101010
k10701101011
l10801101100
m10901101101
space3200100000



                    

            
Why 8 bits

        
A byte is 8 bits and can hold 256 values, which is enough for all ASCII characters with room to spare. UTF-8 uses the spare high bit to mark multi-byte characters, so anything outside ASCII shows up as bytes starting with 1.



                    

            
Limitations

        
  • Binary input must contain whole bytes (a multiple of 8 bits).
  • Only UTF-8 is used.



            

        

        
Frequently asked questions

        

                            

                    How do I convert text to binary?

                    
Look up each character's code (A is 65), convert it to base 2, and pad it to 8 digits: 01000001.

                

                            

                    How do I read binary as text?

                    
Split the bits into groups of 8, convert each group to a number, and look up the character.

                

                            

                    How many bits is one letter?

                    
Eight for English letters. Accented letters use 16 bits and emoji 32 bits in UTF-8.

                

                    

    

        

        

            
            
Often used together with the Text to Binary Converter.