Binary Translator: Text to Binary & Hex
Convert Unicode text to and from binary, hexadecimal, or octal bytes. Your work stays on this device whenever possible.
How to use Binary Translator: Text to Binary & Hex
- Type text into "Input Text or Encoded Bytes" and set "Direction" to "Text to Bytes" or "Bytes to Text".
- Choose a "Byte Notation": Binary (Base 2), Hexadecimal (Base 16), Decimal Bytes (Base 10: 0-255) or Octal (Base 8).
- Pick a "Delimiter": Space, None, Comma, Hyphen, Colon or "Prefix (0b / 0x)".
- Tick "Uppercase Hex letters" and keep "Strict byte padding (8-bit binary / 2-digit hex)" ticked for fixed-width groups.
- Press "Convert", read the Statistics line for characters, bytes, bits, ones and zeros, and use "Swap Input & Result" to reverse the direction.
Worked example
Type Hi, choose Text to Bytes, Binary and Space, then press "Convert". The result is 01001000 01101001. The Statistics line reports 2 characters, 2 UTF-8 bytes and 16 bits, with 6 ones and 10 zeros. Switching the notation to Hexadecimal with Uppercase ticked gives 48 69, and pressing "Swap Input & Result" moves that back into the input box.
When to use this tool
- Showing a class how the letters in a word map to bytes.
- Decoding a string of space-separated hex bytes copied from a packet capture.
- Checking how many UTF-8 bytes a name with accents will occupy in a fixed-width field.
Important limitations
Converts UTF-8 byte streams. Multi-byte Unicode characters and emojis (e.g. 🚀) produce multiple 8-bit bytes (4 bytes for emoji). A missing byte or invalid digit prevents a valid UTF-8 round trip.
Frequently asked questions
How many bytes do emoji and accented letters take?
In UTF-8, an accented e takes two bytes, a euro sign three and a rocket emoji four. The text "Hello" plus a space and a rocket gives 10 bytes, while the Statistics line counts 8 characters because it uses UTF-16 units and treats the emoji as two.
Why does decoding stop with an error?
Every piece is checked against the chosen base, so a digit 2 in binary or a decimal above 255 halts with a message naming the token and its position. Bytes that do not form valid UTF-8 are rejected rather than shown as replacement characters.
Can I decode a run with no separators?
Yes for binary in groups of 8, hex in pairs and octal in threes, which are cut into fixed chunks. Decimal is cut into three digits, so values must be padded, for example 072 101, or separated.
What does the Prefix delimiter do?
It writes 0b, 0x or 0o before each byte and joins them with a space, and decoding strips those markers. Decimal has no prefix form, so it simply uses spaces.
Is this a form of encryption?
No. It is a reversible display format anyone can convert back, and the output is longer than the input, since binary needs eight characters per byte. Do not use it to protect data or to compress it.