Binary Converter

About Binary converter

Converts text to binary and binary back to text. Each character is replaced by its character code written in base 2 and padded to at least eight digits, with a space between groups. It is handy for teaching, puzzles and anyone curious how letters look as bits.

How to use it

1. Open the Text to Binary tab, which is selected by default.
2. Type or paste your message into the Text to Convert box.
3. Press Convert to Binary and read the groups in the Binary Output panel.
4. For the reverse direction, switch to the Binary to Text tab, paste groups separated by spaces and press Convert to Text.

Three characters

Hi!

01001000 01101001 00100001

When to use it

• Showing students how the letter H, code 72, is stored as 01001000.
• Solving a binary message from a puzzle hunt, escape room or geocache.
• Producing a decorative binary string for a poster, sticker or T-shirt.
• Cross-checking a hand conversion when you are learning positional number systems.

Questions about Binary converter

Why are some groups longer than eight digits?

The tool uses each character's UTF-16 code unit. Characters below 256 fit in eight bits, but the euro sign is 8364 and needs 14 bits, and an emoji becomes two 16-bit groups.

How must the groups be separated when decoding?

By whitespace of any kind, including line breaks. A long run of digits with no gaps is read as one enormous number instead of separate characters.

What happens if a group contains a digit other than 0 or 1?

There is no error. Reading stops at the first invalid digit, so 0100100a is read as 100100 and comes back as a dollar sign. Check the input if the text looks wrong.

Is this the same as the bytes in a UTF-8 file?

Only for basic ASCII. The letter é is shown as 11101001 here, while a UTF-8 file stores it as 11000011 10101001.

Does turning text into binary hide it?

No. Binary is only another way of writing the same characters, and anyone can convert it back.

Related tools

• Ascii converterConvert text to ascii and the other way for any string input.
• Hex converterConvert text to hexadecimal and the other way for any string input.
• Base64 encoderEncode any string input to Base64.
• Base64 decoderDecode Base64 input to back to string.
• Decimal converterConvert whole numbers between decimal and binary, octal or hexadecimal.
• Octal converterConvert whole numbers between octal and decimal, binary or hexadecimal.