How to use the binary to text converter
- 1Paste the binary into the Binary box. Spaces, commas and line breaks between bytes are optional.
- 2Leave Bits per character on Auto-detect, or set 8 bits or 7 bits if the decoder guesses wrong.
- 3Read the decoded text in the Text box. Set Show to Decimal values, Hex values or Octal values to see the byte values instead.
- 4If you see � characters, set Character set to Latin-1 (8-bit) for old extended-ASCII data.
- 5Check the Character-by-character breakdown for each byte, then press Copy or Download.
Example
010011100110100101100011011001010010000100100001
Nice!!
48 bits with no spaces split into six bytes: 78, 105, 99, 101, 33, 33.
Decoding binary step by step
To decode 01001000 01101001 by hand:
- Split the bits into bytes of eight.
- Add the place values (128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1) wherever there is a 1:
01001000= 64 + 8 = 72,01101001= 64 + 32 + 8 + 1 = 105. - Look each number up in the ASCII or Unicode table: 72 is H and 105 is i.
The answer to the common puzzle “what does 01001000 01101001 mean?” is therefore “Hi”. The breakdown table under the result shows these three columns (bits, number, character) for every byte you paste.
Spaced vs continuous binary
When bytes are separated by spaces, commas or new lines, each group is read as one byte, and a short group such as 1000001 is padded with a leading zero. When the binary arrives as one long run, the decoder cuts it every eight bits from the left.
If every group has exactly seven digits, or a continuous run divides by seven but not by eight, the input is read as 7-bit ASCII and a note says so. Override the guess with Bits per character.
Invalid input and padding
Anything other than 0, 1 and separators stops the conversion with the exact character and its position, for example “2 at position 14”. A continuous run that is not a whole number of bytes decodes as far as it can; the leftover bits are listed in a warning rather than silently dropped.
In UTF-8 mode, a byte that cannot start or continue a valid character (for example a lone 11000011 with nothing after it) is shown as �, and the breakdown marks it “not valid UTF-8 here”.
Decoding to decimal, hex and ASCII codes
The Show menu turns the output into the byte values instead of text:
| Show | “Hi” becomes |
|---|---|
| Text | Hi |
| Decimal values | 72 105 |
| Hex values | 48 69 |
| Octal values | 110 151 |
This is useful when the binary is not text at all, such as a number, a colour or part of a file header. To convert one long binary number rather than a list of bytes, use binary to decimal or binary to hex.
Binary puzzles and hidden messages
Geocaches, escape rooms and programming challenges often hide a word in binary. If the result looks like nonsense, try these in order: switch Bits per character to 7; check whether the bits were written with the least significant bit first (reverse each byte); look for a second layer, such as Base64 or hex, in the decoded text. The ASCII table helps when only a few bytes are unreadable.
Is my text private?
This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your text is not uploaded to our servers.