Morse Code Converter
Translate text to morse code and back, with adjustable-speed audio playback.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
What is morse code converter?
Morse code is a method of representing letters, digits, and punctuation as sequences of two distinct signals — short (“dit”) and long (“dah”) — usually heard as tones, seen as flashes of light, or felt as taps. It was developed in the 1830s and 1840s by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail to send text over telegraph wires, and refined over the following decades into the international form codified today by the International Telecommunication Union as ITU-R M.1677-1.
The encoding is built around timing ratios rather than absolute speeds. A dit is one unit. A dah is three units. The gap between symbols of one letter is one unit. The gap between letters is three units. The gap between words is seven units. As long as the sender and receiver agree on the speed of a single unit, everything else follows. Speed is conventionally measured in words per minute (WPM), defined against the word “PARIS” which takes exactly 50 units to send: at 20 WPM, one dit is 60 milliseconds; at 5 WPM, it’s 240 milliseconds.
What makes morse code persistent in 2026 — long after the telegraph itself disappeared — is its extraordinary efficiency on a noisy or weak channel. A continuous-wave (CW) morse signal can be readable at signal levels well below where voice becomes unintelligible, which is why amateur radio operators still use it on shortwave bands and why some emergency communication training still includes it. It’s also the encoding behind the identification beacons of nearly every aviation navigational aid: the next time you fly, the airline’s en-route navigation is being verified against three-letter morse tones broadcast by VOR stations along the route.
This tool implements the international standard set: the 26 Latin letters, the digits 0–9, and the 18 most commonly-included punctuation marks. Encoding is case-insensitive — hello and HELLO produce the same output. Decoding is lenient: it accepts ., ·, and * interchangeably as the dit symbol, and - and − interchangeably as the dah, so you can paste from a wide range of sources without sanitizing first. Audio playback uses a 600 Hz sine wave (the canonical CW pitch) at PARIS timing, with the WPM slider controlling the speed of a single dit. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
When to use a morse code converter
- Learning morse code — Practice copying at a comfortable WPM and ramp the slider up as your ear catches more letters. The audio uses standard PARIS timing, so what you hear here matches what you'll hear on the air.
- Decoding a message you found — Paste a string of dots and dashes — separated by spaces, or with `/` between words — and get the plain text back. The decoder is lenient: it accepts `.` `·` and `*` for dits, `-` and `−` for dahs.
- Encoding text for a signal or novelty message — Generate the morse representation of a name, a phrase, or an SOS-style message to use in a tattoo design, jewelry inscription, or escape-room puzzle.
- Inspecting a morse audio recording — Match the rhythm of a recording against the encoded output for known phrases. Adjust the WPM until the playback matches the recording's cadence to estimate the original sender's speed.
How to use the Morse Code Converter
- Pick Encode or Decode — Use the tabs at the top of the converter. Encode turns text into morse code. Decode turns a morse string back into text.
- Type or paste your input — In encode mode, type any letters, digits, and standard punctuation. In decode mode, paste a string of dots and dashes — letters separated by spaces, words separated by ` / `.
- Copy the output, or play it — Click Copy to put the result on your clipboard. In encode mode, press Play to hear the morse audio at the speed you've set.
- Adjust the speed — Drag the WPM slider between 5 (very slow, beginner-friendly) and 40 (fast). Beginners typically practice at 12–18 WPM.
Worked examples
The classic distress signal
Input: SOS
Output: ... --- ...SOS is a single prosign — three dits, three dahs, three dits, run together — but it's universally written as the three-letter sequence shown here.
Phrase with punctuation
Input: Hello, world!
Output: .... . .-.. .-.. --- --..-- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. -.-.--Word boundaries are written as ` / ` (space-slash-space). Punctuation like `,` and `!` follow the ITU set.
Decode dots and dashes back to text
Input: .... .. / -- --- --
Output: HI MOMLetters within a word are separated by a single space; words by ` / `. The decoder also accepts double-space as a word break.