Convert any text to binary code in seconds with this free online tool. Type your text, get its binary, and copy the result.
Every letter you type is stored inside a computer as a pattern of ones and zeros. The letter A is not kept as a picture of an A. It is kept as the number 65, and 65 written in binary is 01000001. A text to binary converter turns ordinary writing into those patterns, one character at a time.
This page does that conversion for you. Type or paste any text into the tool above, and it shows the binary version right away. Students use it to learn how binary works. Programmers use it to check how a piece of text is stored. Puzzle fans use it to hide short messages in plain sight.
How to use the converter
The tool is simple on purpose. There is nothing to install and nothing to sign up for.
- Type or paste your text into the box in the tool.
- Click Convert to Binary. Each character becomes an 8-bit group of ones and zeros.
- Read the result from left to right, one group per character, in the same order as your text.
- Click Copy to Clipboard when you want to paste the binary somewhere else.
Spaces and punctuation are converted too, because a computer stores them just like letters. If your result looks longer than your text, that is normal: every single character becomes eight binary digits.
Worked example: converting “Hi”
Take the short greeting “Hi”. It has two characters, so the result has two groups of eight bits.
The capital letter H has the code number 72. In binary, 72 is 64 + 8, which is written as 01001000. The small letter i has the code number 105. In binary, 105 is 64 + 32 + 8 + 1, which is written as 01101001. Put them together and “Hi” becomes:
01001000 01101001
The space in the groups is only there to make the result easy to read. The computer itself does not need it. Two more useful landmarks: a space on its own is 00100000, and the capital letter A is 01000001. Notice that capital and small letters give different binary, so “Hi” and “hi” are not the same in binary.
Where a text to binary converter is useful
- School work: checking homework on binary numbers and ASCII codes without doing every division by hand.
- Learning to code: seeing the link between a character, its code number and its binary form.
- Debugging data: comparing what was sent with what arrived, character by character.
- Puzzles and games: writing a short hidden message that only a reader who knows binary can decode.
- Teaching: showing a class, in seconds, that text and numbers are stored the same way inside a machine.
Honest limitations
First, this conversion is based on the classic 8-bit code table, where each plain English letter, digit and common punctuation mark fits in one byte. Letters with accents and emoji do not fit that simple table: in modern UTF-8 encoding, an accented letter such as é takes two bytes and an emoji can take four. A converter built on the 8-bit table may show those characters differently from a UTF-8 tool, so check the result before using it for real data work.
Second, binary is not a secret code. Anyone can convert it back to text in seconds, so never use it to hide passwords or private information. Third, long texts produce very long binary output, which is hard to read by eye. For long passages, convert a short sample first and check that the start of the output matches what you expect.
Frequently asked questions
Is binary the same as encryption?
No. Binary is just another way of writing the same information. Encryption scrambles information with a key, so it cannot be read without that key. Binary can be read by anyone who knows the code table.
Why does each character become eight digits?
Because eight binary digits can make 256 different patterns, which is enough for all the basic letters, digits and punctuation marks in the classic ASCII table. That is why the basic conversion uses groups of eight.
Does a space count as a character?
Yes. A space has its own code number, 32, and its own binary group, 00100000. If you convert “a b”, you get three groups, not two.
Why do capital and small letters differ?
Because the code table gives them different numbers. Capital A is 65 and small a is 97, so their binary groups are different too. Always check the case of your text before converting.