FilesCalcs

Binary translator

Type text to see it as binary, or paste binary to read it as text. It uses UTF-8 with 8 bits per byte, so £ signs, accents and emoji work, and each byte is shown in decimal and hex too.

Worked out in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Type in either box. The other updates as you go.

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How to translate binary

  1. Type or paste text into the text box, or binary into the binary box.
  2. Separate bytes with spaces when entering binary, for example 01001000 01101001.
  3. Check the decimal and hexadecimal values shown for each byte if you need them.
  4. Copy the result.

Bits, bytes and why 'A' is 01000001

A bit is a single 0 or 1. A byte is 8 bits, which gives 256 possible patterns, from 00000000 (0) to 11111111 (255). Computers store text by giving each character a number and then writing that number in binary.

Capital A is character number 65. In binary, 65 is 64 + 1, so the 64s place and the 1s place are switched on: 01000001. Lower case a is 97, which is 01100001. The only difference between them is the 32s bit, which is why upper and lower case letters sit exactly 32 apart.

Each binary digit doubles in value from right to left: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128. Add up the places that hold a 1 and you have the decimal number.

ASCII and UTF-8

ASCII is the original 128 character set from the 1960s. It covers English letters, digits, basic punctuation and some control codes, but not the £ sign, accented letters or emoji.

UTF-8 is the encoding used by almost every website today. It keeps the ASCII characters as single bytes with the same values, so plain English text looks identical in both. Anything else takes more bytes:

  • £ takes 2 bytes: 11000010 10100011 (C2 A3 in hex)
  • é takes 2 bytes
  • € takes 3 bytes: E2 82 AC in hex
  • Most emoji take 4 bytes

That is why a short message with an emoji can produce far more binary than you expect, and why chopping binary in the middle of a multi byte character gives a garbled result.

Questions people ask

Why does my binary turn into strange characters?

Usually a byte is missing a digit or has an extra one, or a multi byte character has been cut short. Check that every group has exactly 8 digits.

Do I need spaces between the bytes?

Spaces make it far easier to read and check, and the output uses them. Keep each byte as a group of 8 digits.

What is hexadecimal for?

Hex is a shorter way to write bytes. Each byte becomes two characters from 00 to FF, so 01000001 is 41 in hex. Programmers use it because it is easier to read than long runs of 0s and 1s.

Is binary a form of encryption?

No. Anyone can turn it back into text in seconds. Do not use it to hide anything private.

Is my text sent anywhere?

No. The conversion runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded.