Online Text to Binary & Binary to Text Converter
Want to send a friend a secret message in zeros and ones? Wonder how your computer “sees” the word “Hello”? Or are you a programmer who needs to quickly decode a data stream? Our online text to binary converter (and vice versa) will solve this for you – instantly, clearly, and with support for special characters.
Uncover the language of computers. Whether you’re learning about computer science, solving ciphers, or just want to impress with your “geeky” status, our tool allows you to convert any sentence to binary code and back again. Everything works online, for free, and without installation.
Why Use This Binary Converter?
Manually transcribing text into binary code using an ASCII table is tedious and prone to errors. Our widget offers features that will save you time and hassle:
- Two-way Conversion: Works as both a Text to Binary and Binary to Text converter. So you can encode and decode.
- Readable Formatting: A long string of zeros and ones is difficult to read. Our tool can automatically split the result with spaces every 8 bits (bytes), so you can clearly see where one character ends and another begins.
- UTF-8 Support (including special characters): Most simple converters only handle the English alphabet (ASCII). Our tool also supports special characters (like diacritics, e.g., for Czech, German, French), symbols, and emojis.
- Quick Copy: With one click, you can copy the result and send it in a chat or email.
Glossary: What Do These Zeros and Ones Mean?
The world of computers is built on two states: on (1) and off (0). To write texts, people had to devise a system to convert these states into letters.
| Term | Explanation | Example / Value |
|---|---|---|
| Bit (b) | The basic unit of information. It can only have a value of 0 or 1. | 1 or 0 |
| Byte (B) | A group of 8 bits. One byte usually represents one character in the basic alphabet. | 01000001 (letter A) |
| Binary System | A base-2 numeral system that uses only the digits 0 and 1. | 10 (binary) = 2 (decimal) |
| ASCII | An older character encoding standard. Contains only the English alphabet and numbers. | A = 65 = 01000001 |
| UTF-8 | A modern standard. It can encode all characters in the world, including special characters and emojis. | č = 11000100 10001101 |
Watch Out for the Difference: Uppercase vs. Lowercase
When converting to binary code, every detail matters. A computer perceives uppercase “A” and lowercase “a” as two completely different characters with different binary representations.
- Letter “A”: In the decimal system, it has the number 65. In binary, it is
01000001. - Letter “a”: In the decimal system, it has the number 97. In binary, it is
01100001.
Tip: Notice that they differ by only one bit (the third from the left). Our tool handles these nuances automatically, so you don’t have to worry that “Hello” would become “hello” during reverse conversion.
Guide: How to Convert Text to Binary (and Back)
Using the widget is intuitive, whether you are an IT student or a complete novice:
- Enter text: Type your message into the upper field (e.g., “Hello”). Or paste the binary code you want to decipher here.
- Set format (optional): In the “Output Format” dropdown menu, we recommend leaving it as “With spaces (every 8 bits)”. The result will be much clearer.
- Choose conversion direction:
- Click Text to Binary if you want to get the code.
- Click Binary to Text if you want to read the code.
- Result: The converted data will instantly appear in the bottom window. Use the icons on the right to copy it to the clipboard or delete it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why do characters like "č" or "ř" have a longer code than "a"?
Basic characters (English alphabet, numbers) fit into one byte (8 zeros and ones). However, special characters with diacritics do not belong to the basic ASCII table. For a computer (in UTF-8 encoding) to display them, it needs **two bytes** (16 bits) to describe them. That's why the binary code for "č" is twice as long as for "c".What happens if I enter meaningless zeros and ones into the decoder?
If you enter a random cluster of numbers, the tool will attempt to interpret them as characters. This often results in meaningless symbols or "garbled text" (so-called mojibake), because the combination of bits does not correspond to any readable word. For the conversion to work, the binary code must be valid.What is the binary code for a space?
Even a space is a character! A computer doesn't see it as "empty space" but as a specific value. In ASCII, a space has the number 32. The binary code for a space is:00100000.