Morse Code Translator
Translate text to Morse code and back, then play it as sound or a flashing light
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type or upload is sent to us or stored.
Results are for general guidance. Please check anything important before relying on it. Terms of use
How to Use
- Type in the Text box to get Morse code, or type dots and dashes in the Morse code box to get text. Both boxes update as you type.
- In Morse, leave a space between letters and put a / between words. Dots and dashes like Ā· and ā are understood too.
- Set the Speed in words per minute, and switch on Sound, Flashing light or both.
- Press Play to hear the code as a 600 Hz tone or watch it blink. Press Stop to end it early.
- Click Copy above either box to copy the text or the code. The chart below lists every letter, number and symbol.
Morse code in short
Morse code writes each letter as a short pattern of dots and dashes. It was developed by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail for the electric telegraph in the 1830s and 1840s, and the international version used today is set out by the ITU in Recommendation ITU-R M.1677-1. This Morse code translator converts text to Morse and Morse back to text, plays it as sound or light, and shows the full chart.
The most famous signal is SOS: ... --- .... It was adopted as the international distress call at the Berlin radiotelegraph convention of 1906 and is sent as one unbroken pattern.
The timing rules
Everything in Morse is measured in one unit, the length of a dot:
| Element | Length |
|---|---|
| Dot | 1 unit |
| Dash | 3 units |
| Gap between dots and dashes in a letter | 1 unit |
| Gap between letters | 3 units |
| Gap between words | 7 units |
Speed is given in words per minute (WPM). The standard test word is PARIS, which takes exactly 50 units including the gap after it. That gives a simple formula for the length of a dot:
Worked example. At 15 WPM a dot lasts 1200 Ć· 15 = 80 ms. Typed as three separate letters, the way this translator writes it, SOS is S (3 dots and 2 gaps = 5 units), a letter gap (3), O (3 dashes and 2 gaps = 11), another letter gap (3) and S again (5). That's 27 units, or 27 Ć 80 = 2,160 ms, a little over two seconds. The player in this tool uses exactly these rules.
Reading Morse that someone sent you
Morse found online is written in many styles. The translator accepts all the common ones:
- Dots as ., Ā· or ā¢, and dashes as -, ā, _ or a long dash.
- A space between letters, and /, | or two or more spaces between words.
- Several lines, which stay as separate lines in the text.
A pattern that isn't a real code shows up as # and is listed above the player, so you can spot a typing mistake. In the other direction, characters with no Morse code (ā¹, #, emoji) are left out and listed. Accented letters such as Ć© are sent as the plain letter.
Letters, numbers and punctuation
All 26 letters and 10 digits come from the ITU list, as do the common punctuation marks: full stop, comma, question mark, apostrophe, slash, brackets, colon, equals, plus, hyphen, quotation marks and @. The codes for ! & ; _ and $ are widely used by radio amateurs but aren't part of the ITU recommendation. They're marked with an asterisk in the chart.
Learning tips
- Learn by sound, not by counting dots on paper. Play single letters at 15ā20 WPM so each one sounds like a rhythm.
- Start with the short letters: E (.), T (-), I (..), M (--), A (.-) and N (-.).
- The flashing light shows how signal lamps were used at sea. It can blink several times a second at higher speeds, so skip it if flashing lights bother you.
- Amateur radio operators in India are licensed by the Wireless Planning and Coordination (WPC) wing of the Department of Telecommunications. Check the current exam syllabus there if you're preparing for a licence.