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Text to Binary
Use this free text to binary converter to turn words into binary code — and binary code back into words. Type any text and see its 0s and 1s instantly, or paste binary in and decode it, with 8-bit groups, spacing options, and copy buttons for both directions.
Tip: binary must contain only 0s, 1s and spaces, and its length (without spaces) must be a multiple of 8 to decode back into text.
How it works
Computers do not store letters directly. Inside a computer, everything is a pattern of two states — off and on — written as the digits 0 and 1. To store text, each character is first given a number, and then that number is written in binary. The letter A is number 65, B is 66, and so on through the alphabet, while a space is number 32 and the digits 0 to 9 are numbers 48 to 57. This numbering is called ASCII for basic English text, and the wider UTF-8 standard extends it to accented letters, symbols and emoji from every language.
Writing a number in binary means breaking it into powers of two: 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2 and 1. Take the letter H, which is number 72. The largest power of two that fits in 72 is 64, leaving 8, which is itself a power of two. So 72 is 64 plus 8, and its eight bits read 01001000 — a 1 in the 64 place, a 1 in the 8 place, and 0s everywhere else. The converter does exactly this arithmetic for every character you type, one character at a time, and joins the eight-bit groups together.
By default the groups are shown with a space between them, which makes the output easy to read and count: "Hi" becomes 01001000 01101001, two groups for two letters. Choose "No spaces" when you need one continuous string to paste into code or a form, or "One group per line" when you want to study each character separately. The spacing never changes the meaning — it only changes how the groups are displayed — so you can switch freely without changing the code itself.
Decoding works in reverse. Paste binary into the box, switch the direction to Binary to Text, and the tool reads the code in eight-bit groups from left to right. Each group is turned back into its number — 01001000 becomes 72 — and that number becomes its character, H. Because the groups must be exactly eight bits long, the tool checks your input first: it must contain only 0s, 1s and spaces, and after removing the spaces its length must be a multiple of eight. If anything is wrong, you get a clear message saying what to fix instead of a garbled result.
Letters outside basic English take more than one byte in UTF-8, which is the encoding this converter uses. An accented letter such as é takes two bytes, so it becomes two eight-bit groups, and most emoji take four bytes, giving four groups. That is correct behaviour, not an error — it is how the web stores those characters too. Try converting your own name, a short sentence, or a line from a favourite song, and count the bits: every English letter costs exactly eight, and the total bits are always eight times the number of characters.
Worked example
Say you want the binary code for the word Hi. Keep the direction on Text to Binary and the spacing on 8-bit groups, with spaces, and type Hi in the box.
Step 1: The tool looks up the two letters. H is number 72 and i is number 105.
Step 2: It writes 72 in binary. 72 is 64 + 8, so its eight bits are 01001000.
Step 3: It writes 105 in binary. 105 is 64 + 32 + 8 + 1, so its eight bits are 01101001.
Step 4: It joins the two groups with a space between them.
The tool shows the same result: the headline reads 2 characters → 16 bits, the detail reads H = 01001000 · i = 01101001, and the output box reads 01001000 01101001. Paste that binary back in, switch the direction to Binary to Text, and the tool returns Hi again.
FAQ
What is binary code?
Binary code is a way of writing information using only two digits, 0 and 1. Computers store and process everything — text, pictures, sound — as patterns of these two digits, because their circuits only have two states, off and on. Each 0 or 1 is called a bit, and eight bits together make one byte, which is enough to represent a single character such as a letter or a digit.
How do I convert text to binary?
Type or paste your text into the box above, keep the direction set to Text to Binary, and the tool converts it instantly. Each character is turned into its 8-bit binary code — for example, the letter H becomes 01001000 — and the codes are shown in groups, with spaces between them by default. Use the Copy button to copy the full binary string.
Can I convert binary back to text?
Yes. Switch the direction to Binary to Text and paste in binary code made of 0s and 1s, with or without spaces. The tool reads the code in 8-bit groups and turns each group back into its character. Make sure the binary has no extra characters and that its length is a multiple of eight, or the tool will show a friendly error explaining what to fix.
Why is text to binary useful?
It is useful for learning how computers store text, for school and college computing work, and for puzzles and games that hide messages in binary. Teachers use it to show students that a letter is really just a number stored as bits, and hobbyists use it to encode short secret messages for friends to decode.
Does the converter work with emoji and accented letters?
Yes. The converter uses UTF-8 encoding, the standard the web uses, so accented letters, symbols and emoji are converted correctly. Letters outside the basic English set take more than one byte — an accented letter takes two bytes and most emoji take four — so their binary output is longer than eight bits, which is expected and correct.