Morse Code Translator

How to Use This Morse Code Translator

Using this tool is straightforward. Choose your conversion direction with the toggle at the top: Text to Morse or Morse to Text. Type or paste your content into the input field, and the translation appears instantly below as you type. No button to click, no page to reload.

To hear your message in Morse code, press the Play button. You will hear each dot and dash as an audio tone, and the visual display will highlight each symbol as it plays. Adjust the Speed slider to control how fast the code plays (5 to 40 words per minute), and the Tone slider to change the pitch (400 to 1000 Hz).

When entering Morse code manually, use a dot (.) for dit, a dash (-) for dah, a single space between letters, and a slash (/) or three spaces between words. For example: .... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. translates to "HELLO WORLD".

What Is Morse Code?

Morse code is a method of encoding text characters into sequences of two signal durations: short signals (dots) and long signals (dashes). It was developed in the 1830s by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail for use with the electric telegraph, one of the earliest long-distance communication systems.

The genius of Morse code lies in its efficiency. Morse visited a newspaper typesetting shop and counted how many of each letter the typesetters kept in stock. The most common letter, E, received the shortest code: a single dot. Less frequent letters like Q and Z received longer codes. This frequency-based optimization anticipated modern information theory by over a century.

The first official Morse code message, "What hath God wrought?", was sent on May 24, 1844, from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore. Today, Morse code is still used in amateur radio, aviation navigation beacons, and accessibility tools like Google's Morse code keyboard for people with motor disabilities.

Morse Code Reference Chart

Letters (A–Z)

Numbers (0–9)

Punctuation

Morse Code Timing Rules

Morse code follows a precise timing system based on the dot as the fundamental unit. Every other element is defined as a multiple of the dot duration:

• Dot: 1 unit of time
• Dash: 3 units (three times as long as a dot)
• Gap between symbols within a letter: 1 unit of silence
• Gap between letters: 3 units of silence
• Gap between words: 7 units of silence

Here is a visual example showing the word "HI" with its timing. Blue blocks are signal-on (sound), gray blocks are signal-off (silence):

At 15 WPM (the default speed), one dot unit equals 80 milliseconds. The formula is: dot duration = 60 / (WPM × 50) seconds, where 50 is the number of dot-units in the reference word "PARIS".

Frequently Asked Questions

What characters does this Morse code translator support?
This tool supports the International Morse Code standard (ITU-R M.1677-1): all 26 English letters (A–Z), digits 0–9, and common punctuation marks including period, comma, question mark, exclamation mark, slash, parentheses, colon, semicolon, equals, plus, hyphen, underscore, quotation mark, apostrophe, at sign, and ampersand. Characters not in the standard are silently skipped.

Is Morse code case-sensitive?
No. Morse code has no concept of uppercase or lowercase letters. This tool converts all input to uppercase internally before translating. "Hello" and "HELLO" produce the same Morse code output.

How fast is standard Morse code?
Morse code speed is measured in words per minute (WPM), where a "word" is defined as the word PARIS (exactly 50 dot-units long). Beginners typically operate at 5 WPM, proficient operators at 15–20 WPM, and experts at 30+ WPM. This tool lets you adjust speed from 5 to 40 WPM.

Can I use this tool offline?
Yes. All conversion and audio playback happens in your browser using JavaScript and the Web Audio API. Once the page has loaded, you can disconnect from the internet and the tool will continue to work normally.

Privacy

Everything runs in your browser. No text is sent to any server, no data is collected, and no cookies are used. The audio is generated locally using the Web Audio API. You can verify this by disconnecting from the internet after the page loads — the tool will continue to work.

Want to learn the fascinating history behind Morse code — from a painter's personal tragedy to the Titanic rescue to modern accessibility keyboards? Read our guide: The History of Morse Code: How Dots and Dashes Changed the World. Curious about the design decisions and Web Audio API implementation behind this tool? Read the dev log: Building a Morse Code Translator You Can Hear and See.