Translate text to Morse, Morse to text. Audio playback included.
Type text and get Morse code. Paste Morse code and get text back. Hit Play and hear the message at 20 words per minute, the standard ham radio practice speed. Every translation runs locally in your browser using the ITU international Morse code standard. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is logged, and the audio is synthesized in real time by the Web Audio API.
The translator covers the full Latin alphabet (A through Z), digits 0 through 9, and the common punctuation set used in amateur radio and naval signaling. Letters are separated by single spaces, words by a forward slash. The same convention the ITU recommends and the convention every modern Morse trainer expects.
Morse code represents each character as a sequence of short signals (dots, written as ".") and long signals (dashes, written as "-"). A letter is one or more elements with no internal gap longer than one dot. A space between letters is three dots long. A space between words is seven dots long. That timing is what makes Morse intelligible by ear or by light flash even when the medium is noisy.
In text form, the convention is one space between letters and a forward slash with spaces around it between words. "HI" encodes as ".... ..", and "HI THERE" encodes as ".... .. / - .... . .-. .". The slash is purely a textual convention. On the radio there is no slash, just a longer silence.
The full table below is the ITU international standard. Memorize 26 letters plus 10 digits and you can read or send any Morse message in this alphabet. The shorter codes correspond to the most frequent letters in English (E is one dot, T is one dash, A is dot-dash). That frequency mapping is the same compression idea that Huffman coding formalized a century later.
| Letter | Morse | Letter | Morse | Digit | Morse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | .- | N | -. | 0 | ----- |
| B | -... | O | --- | 1 | .---- |
| C | -.-. | P | .--. | 2 | ..--- |
| D | -.. | Q | --.- | 3 | ...-- |
| E | . | R | .-. | 4 | ....- |
| F | ..-. | S | ... | 5 | ..... |
| G | --. | T | - | 6 | -.... |
| H | .... | U | ..- | 7 | --... |
| I | .. | V | ...- | 8 | ---.. |
| J | .--- | W | .-- | 9 | ----. |
| K | -.- | X | -..- | ||
| L | .-.. | Y | -.-- | ||
| M | -- | Z | --.. |
Punctuation supported by this tool: period .-.-.-, comma --..--, question mark ..--.., apostrophe .----., exclamation -.-.--, slash -..-., open paren -.--., close paren -.--.-, ampersand .-..., colon ---..., semicolon -.-.-., equals -...-, plus .-.-., hyphen -....-, underscore ..--.-, quotation .-..-., dollar ...-..-, and the at sign .--.-..
The encoder lowercases nothing (Morse is case-insensitive), looks up each character in the ITU table, and joins the resulting codes with single spaces. Word boundaries get a forward slash surrounded by spaces. Unknown characters (anything outside A through Z, 0 through 9, and the supported punctuation) are silently skipped so the output stays clean. If you paste an emoji or a curly quote, the encoder will simply pass over it rather than emit a placeholder.
If you want the original text back, switch to Morse to Text mode and paste the encoded output. The round trip preserves the message verbatim aside from case and unsupported characters.
The decoder is more forgiving. It splits the input on slashes first to find word boundaries, then splits each word on whitespace to find letters, then looks up each letter in a reverse table built from the same ITU mapping. Any token that doesn't match a known code is replaced with a question mark in the output, so you can see exactly where the decoder gave up. If your paste accidentally contains curly quotes, em-dashes, or Unicode bullets instead of plain dots and dashes, clean them up and try again.
The Play button synthesizes the Morse audio on the fly using the Web Audio API. The tone is a sine wave at 600 Hz, the traditional ham radio sidetone frequency that is comfortable to copy by ear for long sessions. The timing follows the PARIS standard, which defines word-per-minute speed by reference to the word "PARIS" plus a trailing space. At 20 WPM, that word takes 3 seconds, which gives a dot length of 60 ms in the strict PARIS calculation; this tool rounds to 80 ms for slightly more relaxed copy, which is closer to the recommended Farnsworth training speed.
The full timing used by this tool: dot 80 ms, dash 240 ms, gap between elements inside a letter 80 ms, gap between letters 240 ms, gap between words 720 ms. If you are learning Morse, that pacing is fast enough to push you and slow enough to let you write letters down as you hear them.
Amateur radio (ham radio). Morse code remains a popular operating mode on the amateur radio bands. CW (continuous wave) contests, DX hunts, and QRP (low power) operations are still dominated by Morse because the signal cuts through noise that would render voice unintelligible. Tools like this one are how most new hams start practicing before they get on the air.
Scouting and outdoor education. Morse code is part of several scouting merit badge programs and outdoor leadership courses because it teaches signal redundancy and shows how a simple medium (a flashlight, a whistle) can carry structured information.
Accessibility. Morse code input is a recognized assistive technology for users with limited mobility. Switch-based Morse keyboards let someone with two reliable inputs (a sip-puff switch, a head switch) type at competent speed using only dot and dash. The on-screen translator is useful for sighted helpers learning to support a Morse user.
Escape rooms and puzzle design. Morse code is the single most common cipher in escape rooms and ARGs (alternate reality games) because the dot-dash pattern is instantly recognizable, easy to clue, and just hard enough to feel earned when solved.
Art and design. Morse patterns appear in jewelry, tattoos, embroidery, and brand identity. Encoding a meaningful word as a sequence of dots and dashes produces a quiet, abstract motif that the audience either reads or doesn't, which is part of the charm.
This tool uses the ITU international Morse code standard, which is the version used worldwide for amateur radio, aviation navigation beacons, and modern Morse training. American Morse, the original 1844 telegraph code, is different and is not supported.
One space between Morse letters, and a forward slash with surrounding spaces between words. The string SOS encodes as ... --- ... and "HI WORLD" encodes as .... .. / .-- --- .-. .-.. -... The decoder accepts either a slash or extra whitespace as a word boundary.
About 20 words per minute, using the PARIS standard. A dot is 80 ms, a dash is 240 ms, the gap between elements inside a letter is 80 ms, the gap between letters is 240 ms, and the gap between words is 720 ms. The tone is 600 Hz, the traditional ham radio sidetone frequency.
Yes. Digits 0 through 9 use the standard ITU five-element codes. Common punctuation is supported, including period, comma, question mark, apostrophe, exclamation, slash, parentheses, ampersand, colon, semicolon, equals, plus, hyphen, underscore, quotation, dollar sign, and the at sign.
No. All translation and audio synthesis runs locally in your browser using JavaScript and the Web Audio API. Nothing leaves your device. You can verify this by opening the network tab and watching it stay empty as you type.
Three common reasons. The dots and dashes use the wrong characters (curly quotes, en-dashes, or Unicode bullets instead of plain "." and "-"). The word separator is missing (use a slash or a longer gap). Or there is a stray character that is not ".", "-", space, or "/". Clean those out and the decoder works.