Text to Binary / Hex
Encode text as binary, hex, decimal, or octal bytes — or decode byte strings back to text. UTF-8 aware.
Text
Binary Output
01001000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111
Byte breakdown
About this tool
A UTF-8 aware text encoder and decoder. Convert any text string to its binary (base 2), hexadecimal (base 16), decimal (base 10), or octal (base 8) byte representation. Works with ASCII, Unicode, accented characters, and emoji. Also decodes byte strings back to readable text.
How to use it
Quick steps to get the most out of this utility.
- 1
Choose direction
Text → Bytes to encode, Bytes → Text to decode.
- 2
Select output format
Binary (8-bit), hexadecimal (2-char), decimal, or octal.
- 3
Type or paste input
The conversion appears instantly.
- 4
Explore the breakdown
Scroll to see each character's individual byte values.
Why byte encoding matters
At the hardware level, computers store everything as bytes. Text encoding defines how characters map to bytes. ASCII covers 128 characters in a single byte each; UTF-8 extends this to all Unicode characters using 1–4 bytes per character. Understanding byte representation is essential for network protocols, file formats, cryptography, and low-level debugging.
Frequently asked questions
How does text-to-binary conversion work?+
Each character in the text is first converted to its UTF-8 byte value (one or more bytes), then each byte is written as an 8-bit binary number. For example, the letter "A" is byte 65, which is 01000001 in binary.
What is the difference between binary and hexadecimal output?+
Both represent the same underlying bytes. Binary uses 0s and 1s (8 characters per byte), while hexadecimal uses digits 0–9 and A–F (2 characters per byte). Hex is more compact and commonly used in programming, debugging, and cryptography.
Does this support Unicode / emoji?+
Yes. The tool uses the browser's TextEncoder (UTF-8) and TextDecoder APIs, which correctly handle multi-byte characters including accented letters, CJK characters, and emoji. Multi-byte characters produce multiple byte values.
What is the decimal (ASCII) format?+
Each byte is shown as its decimal (base 10) value — the raw number between 0 and 255. This matches the ASCII table for standard characters and UTF-8 byte values for multi-byte characters.
What is octal encoding used for?+
Octal encoding represents each byte as a base-8 number (0–377). It is used in some Unix escape sequences (\101 for 'A') and older file formats, but is less common today than hex.
Keep exploring
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