Morse Code Translator

Overview

Translates between plain text and International Morse code in both directions, live on every keystroke. The encoder covers the full ITU letter and digit set, marks word gaps with a slash, and the decoder reverses the process using the same table. Everything runs in the page: no audio, no network, no account.

How It Works

Pick Text to Morse or Morse to Text at the top of the panel. In the text direction you type into the left box and the dots-and-dashes translation appears in the right box as you type; the page pre-fills a sample so you can see the format immediately. Switching to the decode direction loads a sample signal and splits whatever you paste into words on runs of three spaces and letters on single spaces. A Copy button appears on the output whenever it is non-empty.

Step-by-Step Usage Guide

1. Choose the direction with the Text to Morse / Morse to Text toggle; each direction loads its own example input so the expected format is visible.
2. Type or paste into the Input box. Translation is live — there is no convert button to press.
3. In decode mode, make sure words are separated by three spaces; the decoder treats a run of three spaces as the word boundary.
4. Press Copy on the output box to take the result with you.

Technical Specifications & Standards

The conversion table is International Morse code as standardised by the ITU: the twenty-six Latin letters A-Z, the digits 0-9, and space encoded as a slash. Encoding uppercases the input first, so the output is always case-free — Morse has no case. Between letters the tool emits a single space and between words a slash surrounded by spaces, which matches the common written convention of one unit between dots and dashes, three between letters, and seven between words. Two behaviours matter when decoding: the parser expects words separated by exactly three spaces (a slash-separated signal will decode with the gaps missing), and any character or dot-dash group outside the table is silently dropped rather than flagged — punctuation like a period or comma has no entry here, so a sentence loses its punctuation marks instead of erroring. SOS, by the way, is not sent with a word gap: it is transmitted as one letter group, three dots, three dashes, three dots run together as far as timing is concerned.

Targeted Use Cases

• Decoding a mystery sequence of dots and dashes from a puzzle, geocache, film prop or tattoo before committing to it.
• Preparing text for amateur radio practice or a Scout signalling badge, where the letters-and-digits ITU table is exactly what is taught.
• Generating practice material for learning to receive Morse by ear, with word boundaries made visible as slashes.
• Checking that a Morse motif in a design or gift engraving actually says what the seller claims.

Notes & Gotchas

• Strip punctuation before encoding. This tool maps letters, digits and spaces only; anything else is dropped silently, so check the output rather than assuming.
• Use slashes only as visual word markers when writing Morse by hand, but use three spaces between words when feeding the decoder.
• Remember the output is uppercase-only; do not rely on it to preserve names written in mixed case.
• For transmissions, keep messages short and alphabetic — abbreviations like CQ and 73 exist precisely because hand-sent Morse is slow.

Frequently Asked Questions