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Everyday · United States

Morse Code Translator

Translate text to Morse code and back, and hear it played as audio at an adjustable speed (WPM) and tone — all in your browser. Uses the international ITU-R M.1677 alphabet with PARIS-standard timing (unit = 1200 ÷ WPM ms, dot 1 unit, dash 3 units). Letters are separated by a space and words by a slash; decoding is lenient and unsupported characters are flagged. Includes a full reference chart. Accurate, instant and free — for United States.

100% in-browser — nothing is uploaded

Both translation and audio playback run entirely in your browser — your text is never sent anywhere. It works offline once the page loads.
Direction

Morse code

... --- ...

Hear the message at the speed and pitch you set.
20 WPM · 60 ms/unit
600 Hz

International Morse reference chart

Letters

  • A.-
  • B-...
  • C-.-.
  • D-..
  • E.
  • F..-.
  • G--.
  • H....
  • I..
  • J.---
  • K-.-
  • L.-..
  • M--
  • N-.
  • O---
  • P.--.
  • Q--.-
  • R.-.
  • S...
  • T-
  • U..-
  • V...-
  • W.--
  • X-..-
  • Y-.--
  • Z--..

Digits

  • 0-----
  • 1.----
  • 2..---
  • 3...--
  • 4....-
  • 5.....
  • 6-....
  • 7--...
  • 8---..
  • 9----.

International Morse and PARIS timing

This uses the international Morse alphabet (ITU-R M.1677), the standard the world agrees on. Speed follows the PARIS word convention: one time unit is 1200 ÷ WPM milliseconds, a dot is 1 unit and a dash is 3 units, with 1-unit gaps between symbols, 3-unit gaps between letters and 7-unit gaps between words.

How we calculate this

Reviewed by Reckonist Editorial · Last reviewed July 2026. Figures follow the methods and sources set out in our editorial standards.

Encoding and decoding use the international Morse code table (ITU-R M.1677). Playback timing follows the PARIS standard (unit = 1200 ÷ WPM ms; dot 1 unit, dash 3 units; 1/3/7-unit gaps). Decoding is lenient — it accepts ·/− as well as ./- — and characters with no standard code are flagged with #.

ITU-R M.1677 · International Morse code

Spelling something out loud instead? Use the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, or convert between units with the Unit Converter.

Overview

Dots, dashes and the gaps between them

International Morse code (ITU-R M.1677) maps every letter and digit to a pattern of dots and dashes. A dash is exactly three times as long as a dot, and it is the gaps — one unit inside a letter, three units between letters, seven between words — that make the message readable. This tool writes letters separated by a space and words by a slash (/).

Elements

Dot & dash

  • dot (dit) = 1 unit on
  • dash (dah) = 3 units on
  • e.g. A = .-

Gaps

Where the meaning lives

  • 1 unit between dots/dashes
  • 3 units between letters
  • 7 units between words

Both directions

Encode & decode

  • Text → Morse instantly
  • Morse → text (lenient input)
  • Accepts ./- or ·/− and extra spaces
Worked example — "HELLO"
Text
HELLO
Morse
.... . .-.. .-.. ---
SOS
... --- ...
Word gap
/ (slash)
Timing

Speed, WPM and the PARIS standard

Morse speed is quoted in words per minute, calibrated on the reference word PARIS, which is exactly 50 units long. One unit (one dot) therefore lasts 1200 ÷ WPM milliseconds — 60 ms at 20 WPM. Every other duration follows from that single number.

ITU-R M.1677 + PARIS timing

Unit = 1200 / WPM ms · dot = 1 unit · dash = 3 units · intra-letter gap = 1 unit · letter gap = 3 units · word gap = 7 units. At 20 WPM that is a 60 ms dot, a 180 ms dash and a 420 ms word gap. The audio player uses exactly these values.
Audio

Hear it, and what gets skipped

Web Audio playback

In-browser tone

Press Play to hear the message as a sine tone gated on and off per the PARIS schedule. Adjust WPM (5–30) and pitch (400–1000 Hz). Audio is created only when you click Play, so the page stays silent and fast to load.

Unsupported characters

Flagged with #

Letters, digits and common punctuation are covered. Anything with no standard Morse form — emoji, accents, symbols like # — is shown as a # so you can see it was skipped.

100% in your browser

Encoding, decoding and audio all run locally on your device — nothing you type is uploaded, and the translator works offline once the page has loaded.
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

SOS is "... --- ..." — three dots, three dashes, three dots. It is the international distress signal, chosen in 1905 because that run of nine elements is short, unmistakable and symmetric, so it is easy to recognise even through noise. Strictly it is sent as one continuous nine-element string with no letter gaps (a "prosign"), but written out letter by letter it is still S (...), O (---), S (...). SOS does not actually stand for any words like "Save Our Ship" — that is a later backronym; it was picked purely for how it sounds.

Each letter is a short pattern of dots (a short beep, called a "dit") and dashes (a long beep, three times as long, called a "dah"). Within a letter the dots and dashes are separated by a one-unit gap; between letters there is a three-unit gap; between words a seven-unit gap. So ".... . .-.. .-.. ---" reads as H-E-L-L-O. The gaps are what tell you where one letter ends and the next begins — without them "...---..." could be read many ways instead of SOS. Use the reference chart on this page to look up each letter until the common ones become automatic.

Speed is measured in words per minute (WPM), based on the standard word "PARIS" which is exactly 50 time units long. The duration of one unit (one dot) is 1200 ÷ WPM milliseconds, so at 20 WPM a dot is 60 ms, a dash 180 ms, and a word gap 420 ms. Beginners often learn at 5–13 WPM; experienced operators copy 20–40 WPM, and contest and record speeds run higher still. This tool lets you set 5–30 WPM so you can hear the same message slow enough to follow or fast enough to sound realistic.

Yes — the playback uses the same PARIS timing the encoder does. When you press Play the tool builds an on/off schedule (dot = 1 unit, dash = 3 units, intra-letter gap = 1 unit, letter gap = 3 units, word gap = 7 units) and drives a Web Audio sine oscillator gated on and off at those exact durations, with the unit length set by your chosen WPM. The tone frequency (400–1000 Hz) only changes the pitch, not the rhythm. It is a faithful representation of properly timed International Morse; a real operator sending by hand will naturally have slight variations.

The tool covers the full International Morse set: the 26 letters A–Z, the digits 0–9, and common punctuation including period, comma, question mark, apostrophe, slash, hyphen, colon, plus and at-sign. Letters are case-insensitive. Anything outside that set — for example emoji, accented letters like é, or symbols such as # and % — has no standard Morse representation, so it is flagged with a "#" in the output to show it was skipped. Spaces between words are preserved and shown as a slash (/). If you need an accented letter, spell it with its base letter (e.g. e for é).

Sources

Standards & references

Method & assumptions Sources: ITU-R M.1677 — International Morse code · Wikipedia — Morse code (timing / PARIS standard) Updated Jul 2026

Method: each character is mapped to the International Morse table (ITU-R M.1677); letters are joined by a single space and words by a slash. Timing follows the PARIS standard — unit = 1200 / WPMms, dot 1 unit, dash 3 units, letter gap 3 units, word gap 7 units. Audio is generated with the browser's Web Audio API only on Play. Everything runs client-side — nothing is uploaded.

How we calculate this

Reviewed by Reckonist Editorial · Last reviewed 5 July 2026. Figures follow the methods and sources set out in our editorial standards.

This tool encodes, decodes and plays International Morse code (ITU-R M.1677) locally in your browser using PARIS-standard timing. It is for learning and everyday use; for emergencies always use official distress channels rather than a web page.

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