Morse Code Translator
Decode Morse code back into plain English.
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This Morse code translator decodes dots and dashes into plain text. Paste a message such as .... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.., press Decode, and it returns "hello world". It covers the 26 letters and the digits 0 to 9 of International Morse code, which makes it useful for puzzles, scouting and ham radio practice, escape rooms and school projects.
How to format the Morse input
- Use a full stop
.for a dot and a hyphen-for a dash. - Put a space between letters.
- Put a slash with spaces around it,
/, between words.
The output is always in lowercase, since Morse code has no capital letters.
Why a decode can come out wrong or empty
Word gaps written as extra spaces
Any amount of space is treated as a single letter gap. .... .. - .... . .-. . with double spaces between words decodes as "hithere". Replace the wide gaps with / .
A slash without spaces
In ---/.-- the slash is glued to the letters, so the whole group is read as one unknown code and silently dropped. Always leave a space on each side of the slash.
Look-alike symbols
Text copied from websites or chat apps may use bullets (•), underscores, en dashes or the minus sign (−) instead of full stops and hyphens. These are not recognised. Use Find and Replace to swap them for . and - before decoding.
Punctuation and prosigns
Only letters and digits are decoded. Codes for punctuation, such as .-.-.- for a full stop, are skipped without a warning. SOS sent the traditional way, as one unbroken run ...---..., is also skipped; enter it as three letters, ... --- ..., and it decodes as "sos".
Reading Morse by hand
A few codes are worth memorising because they appear everywhere:
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| . | E, the most common letter in English, has the shortest code |
| - | T |
| ... --- ... | SOS |
| ..... | 5 |
| ----- | 0 |
Digits follow a neat pattern: each has five symbols, 1 is one dot followed by four dashes, 2 is two dots and three dashes, and so on up to 5, which is five dots. From 6 onward it flips, with 6 being a dash and four dots. So ..... ----- .---- decodes as 501.
Timing, if you are listening rather than reading
In International Morse code, as standardised by the ITU, a dash lasts three times as long as a dot. The gap inside a letter is one dot long, the gap between letters three dots, and the gap between words seven dots. When you transcribe audio or a flashing light, write a space for each medium gap and a slash for each long gap, then paste the transcription here.
Encoding instead of decoding
This page only decodes. To turn your own message into dots and dashes, use Text to Morse Code; its output uses exactly the spacing and slashes this decoder expects, so you can check a message by converting it there and back.