How Morse Code Translator works
This Morse code translator converts in both directions using the international alphabet: 26 letters, the digits 0 to 9 and 18 punctuation marks. Text to Morse writes each letter as dots (.) and dashes (-), puts one space between letters and a slash between words, so Hello world becomes .... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. Morse to text reverses it and returns capital letters. The decoder also accepts a double space as a word break and reads middle dots, bullets, long dashes and underscores as dots and dashes, which helps when the code was copied from a web page or a document. It is a written translator only: it does not play sound or flash a light.
Morse code alphabet chart: A to Z and 0 to 9
International Morse code for every letter and digit, as used by this tool.
| Character | Code | Character | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | .- | S | ... |
| B | -... | T | - |
| C | -.-. | U | ..- |
| D | -.. | V | ...- |
| E | . | W | .-- |
| F | ..-. | X | -..- |
| G | --. | Y | -.-- |
| H | .... | Z | --.. |
| I | .. | 0 | ----- |
| J | .--- | 1 | .---- |
| K | -.- | 2 | ..--- |
| L | .-.. | 3 | ...-- |
| M | -- | 4 | ....- |
| N | -. | 5 | ..... |
| O | --- | 6 | -.... |
| P | .--. | 7 | --... |
| Q | --.- | 8 | ---.. |
| R | .-. | 9 | ----. |
The commonest English letters have the shortest codes: E is one dot and T is one dash, while Q, Y, J and X take four symbols each.
Common words and phrases in Morse code
Each row is the exact output of the translator for that text.
| Text | Morse code | Dots and dashes |
|---|---|---|
| SOS | ... --- ... | 9 |
| Help | .... . .-.. .--. | 13 |
| Hello | .... . .-.. .-.. --- | 16 |
| Yes | -.-- . ... | 8 |
| No | -. --- | 5 |
| OK | --- -.- | 6 |
| Love | .-.. --- ...- . | 12 |
| I love you | .. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..- | 24 |
| I miss you | .. / -- .. ... ... / -.-- --- ..- | 22 |
| Thank you | - .... .- -. -.- / -.-- --- ..- | 22 |
| Good night | --. --- --- -.. / -. .. --. .... - | 24 |
| Happy birthday | .... .- .--. .--. -.-- / -... .. .-. - .... -.. .- -.-- | 41 |
| CQ (calling any station) | -.-. --.- | 8 |
| 73 (best regards) | --... ...-- | 10 |
| 88 (love and kisses) | ---.. ---.. | 10 |
CQ, 73 and 88 are long-standing amateur radio shorthand.
Morse code for punctuation and symbols
The 18 punctuation marks this translator encodes and decodes. Any other symbol, including % and accented letters, is skipped and counted in a note under the result.
| Mark | Name | Code |
|---|---|---|
| . | Full stop | .-.-.- |
| , | Comma | --..-- |
| ? | Question mark | ..--.. |
| ' | Apostrophe | .----. |
| ! | Exclamation mark | -.-.-- |
| / | Slash | -..-. |
| ( | Opening bracket | -.--. |
| ) | Closing bracket | -.--.- |
| & | Ampersand | .-... |
| : | Colon | ---... |
| ; | Semicolon | -.-.-. |
| = | Equals sign | -...- |
| + | Plus sign | .-.-. |
| - | Hyphen | -....- |
| _ | Underscore | ..--.- |
| " | Quotation mark | .-..-. |
| $ | Dollar sign | ...-..- |
| @ | At sign | .--.-. |
A slash typed in Decode mode is always read as a word break. To decode the slash character itself, enter its code -..-. instead.
Worked examples: encoding and decoding
Text to Morse, two words
Direction: Text → Morse code. Your text: Hello world
.... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -..
Summary: 11 characters in, 2 words, 32 dots and dashes. A line break in the text is treated as a word break too.
Morse to text with slashes
Direction: Morse code → Text. Your text: .. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..-
I LOVE YOU
Morse copied with typographic dots
Direction: Morse code → Text. Your text: ···· ··
HI
Middle dots and bullets are read as dots; en dashes, em dashes and underscores are read as dashes.
Letters run together
Direction: Morse code → Text. Your text: ...---...
? with a warning that 1 sequence did not match any Morse character
Nine symbols with no spaces is not a letter. Entered as ... --- ... it decodes to SOS.
Text with an unsupported letter
Direction: Text → Morse code. Your text: café
-.-. .- ..-.
The é has no code in the table, so it is skipped and the note reports 1 character with no Morse equivalent.
Morse code timing: dot, dash and gap lengths
Dot = 1 unit. Dash = 3 units. Gap between symbols inside a letter = 1 unit. Gap between letters = 3 units. Gap between words = 7 units. Dot length in seconds = 1.2 / speed in words per minute.
Morse is defined by durations, so the written dots, dashes, spaces and slashes on this page stand for sounds and silences of fixed relative length. Speed is measured with the standard word PARIS (.--. .- .-. .. ...), which lasts exactly 50 units including the gap after it. At 20 words per minute that is 1,000 units a minute, so a dot lasts 0.06 seconds and a dash 0.18 seconds. At 5 words per minute, a common beginner speed, a dot lasts 0.24 seconds.
Why a Morse decode comes out wrong
Nearly every failed decode is a spacing problem, not a wrong symbol. Check these in order.
- No space between letters: .... .. is HI, but ...... matches nothing and becomes a question mark.
- A space inside a letter: .- is A, but . - is read as two letters, E and T.
- Words not marked: without a slash or a double space, every letter joins into one long word.
- Other separators: a vertical bar or comma between words is treated as an unknown group. Replace it with a slash.
- A different alphabet: the table here is International Morse. Older American Morse and codes for non-Latin scripts use other patterns and will not decode correctly.
How to get your result
- 1
Set Direction to Text → Morse code to encode, or Morse code → Text to decode.
- 2
Type or paste into Your text. For decoding, put one space between letters and a slash (or two spaces) between words.
- 3
Read the Morse code or Decoded text result and use the copy button to take it with you.
- 4
When encoding, check the Summary for the number of words and the total dots and dashes, and the note listing any characters that were skipped.
- 5
If a decode shows a question mark, fix the spacing around that group and try again.