Morse Code Translator
Text to Morse and back, with sound, light and a .wav download. Runs in your browser.
About this morse code translator
This Morse code translator turns text into dots and dashes and turns Morse back into text, then plays it as sound with a flashing light. It is for anyone decoding a puzzle, learning Morse by ear, or making a beep track for a video.
Type normally and you get Morse. Paste dots and dashes and the tool notices and decodes them instead. While it plays, each letter lights up as you hear it, which makes it far easier to follow than a wall of dashes. You can set the speed in words per minute, add Farnsworth spacing for practice, change the tone and download the result as a .wav file.
The letters, numbers and punctuation follow the international standard, ITU-R M.1677-1. Everything runs in your browser, including the audio, so nothing is uploaded.
Features
Both directions, picked for you
Auto mode reads input made only of dots, dashes, spaces and slashes as Morse, and anything else as text. You can also force either direction. Swap puts the result back in the box.
Sound, light and vibration
Play sends a clean sine tone with soft edges, so there are no clicks. A lamp flashes with every dot and dash, and on phones that support it the device can vibrate along.
Follow along
The letter being sent is highlighted in the output as it plays.
Real speed settings
Character speed runs from 5 to 50 WPM. Turn on Farnsworth spacing to keep letters fast while the gaps stretch to an overall speed you choose. The dot length and word gap are shown in milliseconds.
.wav download
Save the Morse as a 16-bit mono WAV at 22.05 kHz, made from exactly the same timing and tone you hear. The size is shown before you download.
Chart you can click
The full chart lists letters, digits, punctuation and prosigns. Click any sign to hear it. Signs that aren't in the ITU list, such as ! and &, are marked.
How to use the morse code translator
- 1Type text, or paste dots and dashes. The direction is picked for you.
- 2Set the speed, tone and Farnsworth spacing if you are learning.
- 3Press Play to hear it with the light, or download a .wav file.
When to use it
Solving a puzzle or escape room clue
Paste the dots and dashes, read the answer, then check any letter you're unsure of in the chart. Unknown codes show as # so you can spot a typo. Puzzles often mix codes, and the cipher tools page handles Caesar shifts and A1Z26 numbers.
Learning to copy Morse by ear
Set 18 or 20 WPM character speed with Farnsworth at 5 to 8 WPM overall. You hear each letter as a rhythm rather than counting dots, which is how most teachers recommend starting.
Sound effects and messages
Make a ringtone that spells a name, a hidden message in a video soundtrack, or a beeping intro. Download the .wav and drop it into any editor.
Classroom demos
Show how a letter becomes a pattern, then how the same idea becomes bits in binary code. Morse is a nice first example of an encoding where common letters get short codes.
How do you write Morse code?
Each letter is a short pattern of dots (short signals) and dashes (long signals). E, the most common English letter, is a single dot. T is a single dash. Rarer letters get longer codes, like Q (--.-).
When writing Morse as text, put one space between letters and a slash between words. HELLO WORLD is .... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. in that form. This tool also accepts a vertical bar, a new line or three spaces as a word break, and reads a middle dot · or a long dash as a dot or a dash.
How is Morse code timing measured?
Everything is counted in dot lengths. A dash is three dots long. The gap inside a letter is one dot, the gap between letters is three, and the gap between words is seven.
Speed is measured with the word PARIS, which takes exactly 50 dot lengths including its word gap. So the dot length in seconds is 1.2 divided by the words per minute. At 20 WPM a dot lasts 60 ms, a dash 180 ms and a word gap 420 ms.
- Dot: 1 unit. Dash: 3 units.
- Gap between the parts of a letter: 1 unit.
- Gap between letters: 3 units.
- Gap between words: 7 units.
What is Farnsworth spacing?
Farnsworth spacing sends each letter at a higher character speed but leaves extra room between letters and words, so the overall speed is lower. You learn each letter as one rhythm instead of counting dits and dahs, a habit that breaks down at higher speeds.
This tool uses the timing from the ARRL paper by Jon Bloom, KE3Z. With character speed c and overall speed s, the total extra delay per standard word is (60c − 37.2s) ÷ (s × c) seconds. The letter gap gets 3/19 of it and the word gap 7/19. At 18 WPM letters with 5 WPM overall, the letter gap grows from 200 ms to about 1.57 s.
What are prosigns?
Prosigns are procedure signals sent as one run with no letter gap. SOS is the famous one: ...---... sent as a single pattern, not as S, O and S. Type a prosign in angle or square brackets, such as <SOS> or [SK], and it is sent joined.
The common ones are AR (end of message), SK (end of contact), KA (start), BT (new paragraph), AS (wait), SN (understood) and eight dots for an error. When decoding, these patterns come back as <SK> and so on, unless they match a punctuation mark like + or =.
Why use Mavros
| Mavros | Typical upload sites | |
|---|---|---|
| Highlights each letter while playing | Yes | Rarely |
| Farnsworth timing | ARRL formula, gaps shown in ms | Sometimes, timing not stated |
| Download audio | WAV made in the browser | Often missing or server-made |
| ITU vs unofficial signs | Marked in the chart | Mixed without notice |
| Prosigns | Type <SOS>, decoded back | Usually not supported |
| Privacy | Nothing leaves your device | Varies |
Tips
- Morse has no capital letters. Decoded text comes out in capitals, which is the convention.
- Pick a tone between 500 and 800 Hz. It is easy on the ears and cuts through background noise on phone speakers.
- If decoding gives you # marks, look for a missing space. Two letters run together, like .-... for A and S, form a different code.
- Check your volume first with the speaker test if you plan to play Morse to a room.
Questions
What is SOS in Morse code?
SOS is ...---... (three dots, three dashes, three dots) sent as one unbroken signal. It was chosen because it is easy to send and hard to mistake, not because the letters stand for words.
How do I translate Morse code to English?
Paste the dots and dashes into the box with spaces between letters and / between words. Auto mode spots Morse and shows the English straight away. Codes it doesn't know appear as #.
How fast is Morse code usually sent?
Beginners copy at 5 to 13 WPM, and confident operators often work at 20 to 30. At 20 WPM a dot lasts 60 milliseconds. Speed contests go far higher.
What does the slash mean in Morse code?
In written Morse a slash separates words. As a sent character, / is its own code: -..-. This tool reads a slash between codes as a word break.
Can I download the Morse code as audio?
Yes. Download .wav saves a 16-bit mono file at 22.05 kHz with the same speed, spacing and tone you set. A one-minute message is about 2.6 MB.
Is Morse code still used?
Yes, mainly by amateur radio operators and in aviation, where navigation beacons identify themselves in Morse. Ships stopped relying on it for distress calls when the GMDSS system took over in 1999.
Does the tool handle accented letters?
Partly. É has its own international code (..-..), and Ä, Ö, Ü and Ñ use codes that are common but not in the ITU list. Any other accented letter is sent as its base letter, so à becomes A.