Morse Code Translator, Text to Morse and Back
Free Morse code translator. Convert text to Morse code and decode Morse back to text, with audio playback, adjustable WPM speed and a flashing light.
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Morse code is one of the oldest electrical communication systems still in active use, and this Morse code translator lets you convert text to Morse and decode Morse back to plain text instantly, right in your browser. The code was developed in the 1830s and 1840s by Samuel F. B. Morse and his collaborator Alfred Vail for the electric telegraph. On 24 May 1844 Morse sent the famous first long-distance message, "What hath God wrought", from Washington to Baltimore, and within a decade telegraph wires and dot-dash signals were spanning continents. The original American Morse was later refined into International Morse Code, the version standardized today by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the one this translator uses.
Frequently asked questions
How do I use this Morse code translator?
What do the spaces and slashes in the Morse output mean?
What is WPM and how is Morse speed measured?
Why does the audio play at 600 Hz?
What is SOS in Morse code?
Is Morse code still used today?
Which characters does the translator support?
How long does it take to learn Morse code?
What is the difference between American and International Morse code?
Does this translator work offline and is my text private?
About Morse Code Translator, Text to Morse and Back
Using the tool is simple: type or paste into either box. Text you enter in the top box is converted to Morse code as you type, and Morse code entered in the bottom box is decoded back to text just as quickly, so the translator works in both directions live. It covers the full ITU character set, all 26 letters, the digits 0 to 9, and common punctuation such as the period, comma, question mark, apostrophe, slash, parentheses, colon and the at sign. Individual letters are separated by a single space and words are separated by a forward slash (/), which is the widely used plain-text convention. Any character that has no ITU Morse equivalent is flagged below the box instead of being silently dropped, so you always know exactly what was translated.
Beyond translation, the tool can play your Morse code as sound. Playback uses a 600 Hz sine tone, the pitch most operators find comfortable, and follows standard timing rules: a dash lasts three times as long as a dot, the gap between symbols is one dot, the gap between letters is three dots, and the gap between words is seven dots. The speed slider ranges from 5 to 30 words per minute and is calibrated with the standard PARIS convention, where the word PARIS (exactly 50 dot units long) is used as the reference word for measuring transmission speed. There is also a flashing-light mode that blinks a dot on screen in rhythm with the code, the same principle used by signal lamps between ships.
Morse code is far from a museum piece. Amateur radio operators around the world still hold conversations in CW (continuous wave) every day, because Morse gets through weak, noisy radio conditions that defeat voice transmission. Aviation still uses it: VOR and NDB navigation beacons identify themselves in Morse, and pilots verify the ident before trusting the signal. It has also become a genuine accessibility technology, since people with limited mobility can write with one or two switches using Morse input, a feature built into Google's Gboard keyboard. And of course everyone should recognize SOS, three dots, three dashes, three dots, the universal distress signal. Whether you are studying for a ham radio exam, decoding a puzzle, or just curious, this translator gives you accurate ITU Morse with sound and light, with no installation and no data leaving your device.
Morse Code: The Victorian Internet That Refused to Die
Long before fibre optics, telegraph operators formed the world's first online community. Skilled operators could recognize each other purely by their "fist", the personal rhythm and quirks of their keying, much like recognizing a friend's handwriting. They chatted between messages, played remote chess games, and even conducted romances over the wire. Historians have called the telegraph network "the Victorian Internet", and its language was Morse. First-class operators could send and copy over 40 words per minute for hours, and the fastest ever recorded, Ted McElroy, copied 75.2 WPM at a 1939 championship, a record that still stands.
Morse code's most dramatic hour came at sea. When the Titanic struck an iceberg in April 1912, wireless operator Jack Phillips sent both the old CQD distress call and the newer SOS until minutes before the ship went under; the Carpathia's Morse room heard him and saved over 700 people. Maritime Morse lasted another 87 years, until satellite systems replaced it in 1999. When the French navy sent its final commercial Morse transmission in 1997, the operators chose a poetic sign-off: "Calling all. This is our last cry before our eternal silence."
The code has kept finding new lives. In 1966, captured American pilot Jeremiah Denton was forced to appear in a North Vietnamese propaganda broadcast; he blinked the word TORTURE in Morse with his eyelids, confirming to US intelligence how prisoners were being treated. Today Morse thrives in amateur radio contests, and it has become an accessibility tool: since 2018 Google's Gboard keyboard offers Morse input, letting people who can operate only one or two switches type full sentences. A code designed for a wire strung between Washington and Baltimore in 1844 now ships on billions of smartphones.