How to Translate Text to Morse Code

Morse code turns letters into a simple pattern of short and long signals, which is how it traveled down telegraph wires and over radio for more than a century. It looks cryptic, but the rules are tidy and easy to learn. Here is how the code works and how to convert any text into dots and dashes.

Dots, dashes, and timing

Every Morse character is built from two symbols: a dot (a short signal) and a dash (a long one). The whole system is defined by one base unit of time, and everything else is measured in multiples of it:

A dot is 1 unit long.
A dash is 3 units long.
The gap between symbols inside one letter is 1 unit.
The gap between letters is 3 units.
The gap between words is 7 units.

So A is dot-dash (.-) and B is dash-dot-dot-dot (-...). The timing is what makes Morse readable by ear: a trained listener hears the rhythm, not individual beeps.

Letter spacing and the SOS example

The most famous signal is SOS, written ... --- .... That is three dots, three dashes, three dots: S is ..., O is ---, and S is ... again.

Notice the spaces between each letter group. Those represent the 3-unit gap that separates one letter from the next. Without proper letter spacing, ... --- ... would blur into one long string of symbols and lose its meaning. SOS is usually sent as a single run with no internal stops to make it stand out as a distress call, but on paper the letter gaps are shown so you can read it. Word gaps (7 units) are wider still, often written with a slash, so “SO SO” becomes ... --- / ... ---.

How to translate text to Morse and back

You do not need to memorize the alphabet to use it. The Morse Code Translator handles the lookup both ways:

Open the Morse Code Translator and paste or type your text.
Read the dots and dashes it produces, with single spaces between letters and a slash between words.
To go the other way, paste Morse code instead and get plain text back.
Copy the result and use it wherever you need it.

Everything runs in your browser, so your text is never uploaded anywhere.

A few rules to remember

Morse is not case sensitive: Hello and hello produce the same code.
Numbers and common punctuation have their own patterns (1 is .----, a period is .-.-.-).
Spacing is the whole game. Get the letter and word gaps right and the message is unambiguous.

A quick example: HELLO is .... . .-.. .-.. ---, with each letter separated by a space.

Cleaning up text before encoding? Switch its case with the Case Converter.
Want more retro fun? Turn words into pictures with the ASCII Art Generator.
Curious about how characters become numbers? Try the Number Base Converter.

Once you see the timing, Morse stops being a mystery. Paste your text, read the rhythm, done.