Text to Binary Converter

How text to binary conversion works

To convert text to binary, each character is first turned into a number using a character encoding, and each number is then written in base 2 as an 8-bit byte. The letter H is 72, and 72 in binary is 01001000.

Writing a number in binary means expressing it as a sum of powers of two: 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2 and 1. 72 is 64 + 8, so the 64 and 8 positions are 1 and the rest are 0. Leading zeros are kept so every byte is exactly eight digits, which is what lets a decoder split the binary back into characters later.

This converter uses UTF-8, the encoding of the modern web. For English it gives exactly the same bytes as ASCII. For other characters it produces two to four bytes each, so the binary can always be decoded back into the original text.

How to write your name in binary

Type your name in the box above and copy the result. Here is how “Alex” breaks down, one byte per letter:

Capital letters matter. Uppercase letters start with 010 and lowercase letters with 011, so “Alex” and “alex” differ in the first byte. Spaces between first and last names are characters too and become 00100000.

How many bytes does each character need?

In UTF-8 the number of bytes depends on the character. That is why the byte count shown above the input can be larger than the character count.

If an assignment asks for “ASCII binary”, switch Encoding to ASCII. Every byte then starts with 0, and the converter points out any character, such as é or an emoji, that ASCII can’t represent.

Choosing a separator and output format

The Separator option controls what goes between bytes. Spaces are easiest to read, but some puzzles and programs expect something else:

• Space: 01001000 01101001
• None: 0100100001101001, a single continuous string
• Comma: 01001000,01101001, handy for spreadsheets and code
• New line: one byte per line, good for long messages

The Output option changes the number base. The same text “Hi” is 48 69 in hex and 72 105 in decimal. Hex is popular with programmers because two hex digits always make exactly one byte.

What people make with text in binary

• Gifts and keepsakes: a name or date in binary on a bracelet, a mug or a cross-stitch, where each 1 and 0 becomes a bead or a stitch.
• Puzzles and escape rooms: hide a clue as binary and let players decode it with the binary to text translator.
• Computer science homework: check hand-converted answers, and use the character breakdown to see each step.
• Programming: inspect the exact bytes of a string to spot hidden characters or encoding problems.

Frequently asked questions