Text to binary converter
Type text to see the bytes behind it in binary, hexadecimal, octal or decimal, or switch to Decode and paste the numbers to get the text back. Characters are encoded as UTF-8, so accents and emoji work.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Choose Text → bytes and type or paste text. Pick binary, octal, decimal or hexadecimal and a separator.
- To go back, choose Bytes → text, pick the number system the numbers are in, and paste them.
How it works
The tool encodes your text to UTF-8 bytes. Each byte, a number from 0 to 255, is then written in your base with a fixed width: 8 digits for binary, 3 for octal, 2 for hexadecimal (upper case) and no padding for decimal. Decoding reverses the steps and checks that the result is valid UTF-8.
Example
Hi has the bytes 72 and 105:
| System |
Output |
| Binary |
01001000 01101001 |
| Hexadecimal |
48 69 |
| Octal |
110 151 |
| Decimal |
72 105 |
Tips
With no separator the binary output is a single string of 0s and 1s; you can decode it again because every byte has exactly 8 digits. Decimal bytes without a separator cannot be told apart, so keep a space or comma for them.
Frequently asked questions
How is text turned into binary?
Each character is first encoded as one or more bytes using UTF-8, and each byte is written in the chosen number system. For example H is byte 72, which is 01001000 in binary, 48 in hex and 110 in octal.
Why is é two bytes and not one?
In UTF-8, characters outside basic ASCII need two to four bytes. é is U+00E9, stored as the two bytes C3 A9 (11000011 10101001). Plain English letters, digits and punctuation use a single byte.
What formats can I decode?
Values separated by spaces, commas, semicolons or line breaks. Hex may have a 0x prefix. A long run of binary digits with no separators is cut into 8-digit bytes, octal into 3-digit and hex into 2-digit ones. Decimal always needs separators.
Why do I get "not valid UTF-8 text"?
The bytes have to follow UTF-8 rules to be read as characters. A single byte above 127 on its own, such as FF, is not valid. Bytes from files or other encodings, such as Latin-1, will not decode as text.
Is this the same as ASCII binary?
For English letters, digits and common punctuation, yes: UTF-8 uses the same single byte as ASCII for code points 0 to 127. Beyond that, UTF-8 takes over where ASCII ends.