Binary Translator

What binary code actually represents

Every character you type is stored by a computer as one or more bytes — 8-bit numbers from 0 to 255. Binary code simply writes each of those bytes out in base 2, using only the digits 0 and 1, so a single byte always looks like an 8-digit string such as 01001000. This binary translator does that conversion for you: it reads your text as UTF-8 bytes (the same encoding used on the web, in files, and in network protocols), then writes each byte as 8 bits, two hex digits, or a plain decimal number, and can reverse the process to rebuild the original text from any of the three.

How to convert text to binary (and back) here

1. Text → binary: type or paste into the Plain text box on the Binary tab. The Binary code box fills in live, one 8-digit group per byte, separated by a space.
2. Binary → text: paste a binary string into the Binary code box instead, and the Plain text box decodes it instantly. Extra spaces, tabs, or line breaks between the 8-bit groups are ignored, so binary copied from anywhere — a textbook, a spreadsheet, a multi-line list — still works.
3. Hex and Decimal tabs: switch tabs to see the same bytes as two-digit hexadecimal (48 65 6c 6c 6f) or plain decimal (72 101 108 108 111) instead of binary. Nothing is recalculated from scratch — it's the same underlying bytes shown in a different base.

Worked example: "hello" in binary

The word "hello" is five characters and, in plain ASCII/UTF-8, exactly five bytes. Converting each letter separately:

Type "hello" into the Plain text box (or click "Try an example") and the Binary tab shows exactly this sequence — five groups of 8 digits, one per letter.

ASCII to binary quick-reference chart

A handful of common characters, for quick lookup or to sanity-check your own conversions:

Binary vs. hex vs. decimal byte codes

All three tabs describe the exact same bytes — only the number base changes:

• Binary (base 2): every byte as exactly 8 digits of 0/1. Easiest to see the raw bits, but long to type or read (01001000).
• Hex (base 16): every byte as exactly 2 digits, 0-9 and A-F. Compact and the standard for hash values, color codes, and memory dumps (48).
• Decimal (base 10): every byte as a plain number from 0 to 255, the same values used in an ASCII table (72).

Multi-byte characters: emoji and non-English text

Not every character fits in one byte. This translator converts text to UTF-8 first, so accented letters, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, and emoji all round-trip correctly — a single visible character can produce two, three, or four bytes. For example, the Korean syllable "한" is 3 bytes (ed 95 9c in hex), and the emoji 😀 is 4 bytes (f0 9f 98 80 in hex). The byte counter under the code box always shows how many bytes your text actually became, which is often more than the number of characters you typed.

Common mistakes

• Mixing up bits and bytes. A single letter is one byte, written as 8 bits — not 8 bytes. A word like "hello" is 5 bytes, i.e. 40 bits total, shown here as five 8-digit groups.
• Forgetting multi-byte characters. Non-ASCII text (accents, CJK, emoji) is longer in bytes than in visible characters — don't assume 1 character = 1 byte = 8 digits when converting international text.
• Losing the byte boundaries. If you strip every space from a binary string, this tool still parses it correctly by re-splitting it into 8-digit groups — but manual reading by eye gets error-prone past a few bytes, so let the converter re-add the spacing for you.

What this tool doesn't do

This is a straightforward byte-level converter, not a general-purpose data compressor or a cryptographic tool — binary code by itself provides no security or size reduction, it's simply a different way of writing the same bytes. For pasted binary, hex, or decimal input that doesn't form complete, valid byte groups, the tool reports the problem instead of guessing at a result.