Text to Morse code and back, with sound at an adjustable speed, using the ITU code table
Runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere. Updated on 24 Oct 2026.Morse code writes each letter as dots and dashes, such as SOS as ... --- ..., with a space between letters and a slash between words. At 20 words per minute one dot lasts 60 milliseconds, a dash three times as long, following the ITU standard.
Type or paste text in the Text box, and the Morse code appears in the Morse box as you type.
Or paste Morse code in the Morse box, using a space between letters and a slash between words, to read it as text.
Press Play to hear the code, and set the Speed in words per minute.
Press Copy under either box to copy the result.
Morse code turns each letter into a short pattern of dots and dashes that can be sent by sound, light or a tapping finger. This translator converts in both directions as you type and plays the result as sound, using the International Morse Code that the International Telecommunication Union sets out in Recommendation ITU-R M.1677-1.
How it is written here. Dots and dashes are written as . and -, letters are separated by one space, and words by a slash, so HELLO WORLD is .... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -... When decoding, three or more spaces or a new line also count as a word break, and pasted look-alike characters such as • and – are accepted.
What it covers. The 26 letters, the ten figures and the punctuation in the ITU table: full stop, comma, colon, question mark, apostrophe, hyphen, slash, brackets, quotation marks, the double hyphen (=), the plus sign and the @ sign. The exclamation mark is not in the ITU table; it is accepted when decoding in its common amateur form, and the page says when it was used. Characters with no Morse code, such as accented letters or emoji, are listed rather than dropped silently.
Speed and sound. Speed is measured in words per minute using the standard word PARIS, which is 50 units long. A dot is one unit, a dash three, the gap inside a letter one, between letters three and between words seven. At 20 words per minute a unit is 60 milliseconds; learners often start at 5 to 10.
| Speed | One dot | One dash |
|---|---|---|
| 5 wpm | 240 ms | 720 ms |
| 15 wpm | 80 ms | 240 ms |
| 20 wpm | 60 ms | 180 ms |
What it does not do. It does not listen through the microphone to decode sound, and it does not cover the Japanese, Cyrillic or other national variants. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.
SOS is three dots, three dashes and three dots: ... --- .... In distress use it is sent as one continuous signal without the usual gaps between letters, but written with spaces it reads the same. Type SOS in the Text box to see and hear it.
Paste the dots and dashes into the Morse box with one space between letters and a slash between words. The text appears straight away above. Codes that match no character show as a question mark, and the page lists them so you can check for a typing slip.
Speed is counted in words per minute using the standard word PARIS, which takes 50 time units. At 20 words per minute one unit, a dot, lasts 60 milliseconds. Beginners often practise at 5 to 10 words per minute, and skilled operators exceed 30.
The international table covers the 26 letters, ten figures and common punctuation: full stop, comma, colon, question mark, apostrophe, hyphen, slash, brackets, quotation marks, equals, plus and @. Accented letters and emoji have no international code, and the page lists them instead of dropping them silently.
A dash lasts three dots. The gap inside a letter is one dot long, between letters three dots, and between words seven dots. Written down, a space separates letters and a slash separates words, which is the form this translator reads and writes.
No. It converts typed or pasted text and Morse, and plays the code as sound, but it does not decode audio. Listening reliably needs signal processing tuned to the sender's speed and tone, which this page does not attempt.
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