Morse Code Translator
Type text or paste Morse code — the other field updates instantly. Play it back as audio or copy the result.
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Separate letters with a space and words with a slash ( / ).
Listen to the Morse code
Type some text or Morse code above to enable playback.
Morse code alphabet chart (letters, numbers & punctuation)
The international Morse code standard used by every translator on this page.
| Character | Morse code |
|---|
How Morse code represents letters
Morse code encodes every letter, digit, and common punctuation mark as a short pattern of two signals: a dot (a short "dit") and a dash (a longer "dah"). The letter E, the most common in English, is a single dot, while a rarer letter like Q is dash-dash-dot-dash. Because the code was built in the 1840s for the electric telegraph, the shortest patterns were deliberately given to the most frequent letters, which keeps real messages fast to send.
This translator converts in both directions at once: type ordinary text and the Morse appears, or paste dots and dashes and the text appears. It also plays the code back as audio, which is how the code is really read on the air — by ear, not by eye.
Reading the spacing
Spacing carries as much meaning as the dots and dashes themselves. Inside a single letter the dots and dashes are separated by a tiny gap; a longer gap ends one letter and starts the next; and a still-longer gap, written here as a slash ( / ), separates whole words. Get the spacing wrong and "SOS" can read as three unrelated letters instead of one distress call.
How the timing works (WPM)
Morse timing is built from a single building block called a "unit," and everything else is a multiple of it. The standard word "PARIS" is the reference because, including its trailing space, it is exactly 50 units long, so the words-per-minute (WPM) speed sets how long one unit lasts.
| Element | Length (units) | At 20 WPM (60 ms/unit) |
|---|---|---|
| Dot (dit) | 1 | 60 ms |
| Dash (dah) | 3 | 180 ms |
| Gap between dits and dahs in a letter | 1 | 60 ms |
| Gap between letters | 3 | 180 ms |
| Gap between words | 7 | 420 ms |
Example 1 — where the speed comes from. At 20 WPM one unit is 1.2 ÷ 20 = 0.06 s = 60 ms, so a dot is 60 ms and a dash 180 ms. Because "PARIS" is 50 units, one word takes 50 × 60 ms = 3,000 ms = 3 seconds, and 60 ÷ 3 = 20 words a minute — exactly the speed you dialed in.
Example 2 — timing an SOS. SOS is ... --- ... Each S is three dots plus two inner gaps = 5 units; O is three dashes plus two inner gaps = 11 units; letters are separated by a 3-unit gap. The whole call is 5 + 3 + 11 + 3 + 5 = 27 units, so at 20 WPM it takes 27 × 60 ms ≈ 1.6 seconds.
Example 3 — a beginner speed. Drop to 10 WPM and every unit doubles to 120 ms, so the same SOS stretches to about 3.2 seconds — slow enough to write down each element as you hear it.
Common mistakes
- Even spacing. Beginners often leave equal gaps everywhere, which merges letters. The gap between letters must be clearly longer than the gap inside a letter.
- Wrong dash length. A dash is exactly three dots long, not just "a bit longer." Consistent ratios are what make code readable by ear.
- Unsupported characters. Accented letters, emoji, and non-Latin scripts have no standard Morse form and are skipped — the international code covers only A–Z, 0–9, and a set of punctuation.
- Learning by sight. Memorizing the printed dots and dashes rarely transfers to real listening. Learn the sound of each letter as a rhythm from the start.
Where it is still used
Morse is no longer required for most radio licenses, but amateur operators still use it because a faint continuous-wave signal cuts through noise that would bury a voice. Its most famous survivor, the SOS call, was chosen precisely because its rhythm is unmistakable. This tool is for learning, practice, and hobby use — it is not a substitute for certified emergency communication equipment.
Sources & further reading
- International Telecommunication Union — maintains the international Morse code recommendation and its timing ratios
- U.S. Federal Communications Commission — rules for the amateur radio service where Morse is still transmitted
- NIST Time and Frequency Division — reference on timing units behind dot, dash, and gap durations
Frequently asked questions
How does a Morse code translator work?
Morse code represents each letter, digit and punctuation mark as a unique sequence of dots (short signals) and dashes (signals three times as long). This translator maps your text to those sequences using the international Morse code standard, and does the reverse for decoding. For example, the distress signal SOS becomes "... --- ..." — three dots, three dashes, three dots — one of the most recognizable patterns in the code.
What do the spaces and the slash ( / ) mean in Morse code?
A single space separates the Morse code for individual letters within a word, and a slash surrounded by spaces ( / ) marks the gap between whole words. So "HI" becomes ".... .." (two letters, one space between them), while "HI THERE" becomes ".... .. / - .... . .-. ." with the slash showing where one word ends and the next begins. Typing an inconsistent gap is fine — this tool normalizes spacing automatically.
Can I hear the Morse code, and how does the speed (WPM) setting work?
Yes — press Play to hear the Morse code as audio beeps generated directly in your browser, with a flashing light synced to each dot and dash. The speed slider sets words per minute (WPM) using the standard PARIS timing method, where a dot lasts 1.2 ÷ WPM seconds and a dash lasts three times as long. Slower speeds like 5–10 WPM suit beginners learning to read code by ear, while 20 WPM and above matches typical amateur radio operator speed.
Which characters and punctuation does this Morse code converter support?
This converter supports the full international Morse code alphabet: all 26 letters A–Z, digits 0–9, and common punctuation including the period, comma, question mark, apostrophe, exclamation mark, slash, parentheses, ampersand, colon, semicolon, equals sign, plus sign, hyphen, underscore, quotation mark, dollar sign and at sign. Letters are not case-sensitive. Characters outside this set, such as accented letters, emoji or non-Latin scripts, have no official Morse representation and are skipped with a warning.
Is my text or Morse code sent to a server?
No. This Morse code translator runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type, paste or play as audio is ever uploaded, logged or shared with a server. There's no sign-up and no tracking, so you can translate and practice Morse code with complete privacy. Your last input is saved only in this browser's local storage so it's there when you return.