Encode

Morse Code Converter

Turn English letters, digits, and common punctuation into International Morse, or read dot-dash strings back into plain text. The tool picks a direction from what you paste, and you can override it any time. Beyond conversion, it synthesises Morse audio in the browser at a tunable WPM, tone, and Farnsworth gap, and flashes the screen in sync for silent rooms or live demos. The lower panel adds two drills — key the code you see, transcribe the code you hear — with scoring, streaks, and a Koch letter ramp so motor and listening memory build together.

  • Auto-detect direction; override when the guess is wrong
  • Web Audio synthesises a clean sine — no external assets
  • Farnsworth spacing keeps character speed and only stretches the gaps
  • Highlights the current character during playback, with optional screen flash
  • One-click WAV export for slides, broadcasts, or offline practice
  • Two drills graded from single letters to short phrases, plus a Koch ramp
tools/Morse code workbench
0 chars
Waiting for input
Result appears here
18/12 WPM · 600 Hz
Timing
18 WPM
12 WPM

Characters still play at full speed; only the gaps between them slow down. 18 WPM characters with 8 WPM gaps is a good starting point.

Sound
600 Hz
40 %
Now playing0 chars0 dits · 0 dahs0.0 s
Characters to play will appear here

Prosigns: AR end of message · SK end of contact · BT paragraph break · KN named station only · 73 best regards · 88 love and kisses

Practice and games

Sending and copying are different reflexes. Build the sending hand with key-the-code, train your ear with listen-and-type. Koch mode starts from two letters and adds a new one whenever your streak holds.

Best streak: 0 · Accuracy: 0% · Rounds: 0

Reference chart

International Morse: letters, digits, and common punctuation

Click any character to hear it once

A – M
N – Z
0 – 9
. , ? ! / = + − @

Overview

A local Morse workbench: round-trip conversion, audio playback, visual sync, WAV export, plus two practice drills.

  1. 01

    Text to Morse

    Encode English letters, digits, and common punctuation as International Morse. Dots and dashes are written without inner spaces, characters are split by a single space, and words by a slash — ready to paste into notes, scripts, or captions.

  2. 02

    Morse to text

    Paste dot-dash code to recover the text. Spaces split characters, slashes or wide gaps split words. Unrecognised groups become a ? and are listed below — nothing is silently dropped.

  3. 03

    Auto direction detection

    Inputs dominated by dots, dashes, and gaps are treated as Morse; anything else is text. When the guess is wrong, override it in the Direction control.

  4. 04

    In-browser audio

    Web Audio synthesises a sine tone with adjustable WPM, frequency, and volume. The current character is highlighted as it plays so you can follow along.

  5. 05

    Farnsworth spacing

    Keep character speed at full while slowing only the gaps between characters and words. You get the rhythm of a real contact without rushing the learner.

  6. 06

    Screen flash sync

    Turn it on and the Now Playing panel pulses with every dit and dah. Useful in silent rooms, accessibility demos, and stage props.

  7. 07

    WAV export

    Render the current code to a 16-bit PCM WAV at the same settings. Drop it into editing software, classroom slides, or escape-room cues without rerecording.

  8. 08

    Practice and games

    Key-the-code drills sending; listen-and-type drills receiving. Difficulty spans single letters to short phrases, with a Koch ramp. Scores stay in the browser.

How to use

Paste text or Morse, tune playback, then play or export. Drop into the practice panel below when you want to train.

  1. 01

    Type or paste text — or paste dot-dash Morse — in the input panel.

  2. 02

    Leave the direction on Auto, or pick Text → Morse / Morse → Text manually.

  3. 03

    Adjust character speed, gap speed, tone, and volume; turn on screen flash if you want it.

  4. 04

    Press Play to listen, or Export WAV to save the result as audio.

  5. 05

    For practice, scroll down, choose a mode and difficulty, and start scoring.

Details

Conversion, playback, and practice serve different jobs — pick the one that matches the task.

  • Embedding code into a doc, subtitle, or printout — use Text → Morse and copy.
  • Working out what an exhibit or old recording is saying — use Morse → Text.
  • Playing live or producing lesson audio — tune WPM and tone, then play or export WAV.
  • Building sending reflex — use the key-the-code drill.
  • Building listening reflex — use listen-and-type, ideally with the Koch ramp.
  • Sharing a snippet on chat or social — Text → Morse and copy, no playback needed.

Use cases

Amateur radio, classrooms, theatre, escape rooms, kids coding, accessibility demos — the same convert, play, and practise loop covers most of it.

  1. Amateur radio prep

    Convert your callsign, location, and signal report into Morse, set the WPM, and listen once before you key the rig.

  2. Send and copy drills

    Build letter recognition with the Koch ramp, then switch to key-the-code for the sending hand. Every round gives instant feedback.

  3. Classroom demos

    Play a phrase with screen flash on so the whole room sees the rhythm, then have students send it back from the chart.

  4. Escape room props

    Pre-encode a clue, export it as WAV, loop it as ambient sound. Players decode the message to unlock the next step.

  5. Theatre and film sfx

    Need a telegraph effect for a scene? Type the line, export WAV, drop it into your editor as an audio cue.

  6. Scouts and outdoor games

    Turn camp instructions into short codes and signal with flashlight or screen flash. Members read the rhythm to find the message.

  7. Accessibility demos

    Show Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences how Morse rhythm works using screen flash alone. Useful in workshops and museum displays.

  8. Kids learning to code

    Dots and dashes make encoding tangible. The chart and Play button give a friendly intro to symbols mapping to characters.

See also

If your payload also contains binary chunks, normalise them first with Base64 Encoder and Decoder , then make the converted text safe to ship through a link or callback using URL Encoder and Decoder . To turn a short clue into something scannable, use QR Code Generator for a QR image, or print a retail-grade label with Barcode Generator .

Best practices

Morse rewards rhythm and steady practice more than algorithm tricks.

  • Start character speed at 18 WPM and gap speed at 8 WPM — you avoid memorising a slow rhythm you will later outgrow.
  • For listening, prefer the Koch ramp — adding one letter at a time is more durable than chasing the whole chart at once.
  • When sending, tap along with a metronome to lock in the dit-to-dah ratio.
  • Before sharing a WAV, play it back once to make sure the WPM and tone work for the listener.
  • Save common phrases — SOS, CQ, your callsign — as quick examples so you do not retype them.
  • Morse covers Latin letters, digits, and a few marks. For other scripts, transliterate first.
  • Do not treat Morse as secrecy. Anyone fluent reads it instantly; use real encryption when you need privacy.
  • Mind the volume in shared spaces. Sustained dots and dashes get tiring fast.

Limitations

These boundaries keep you from misusing Morse as encryption, a universal encoding, or an automatic recognizer.

  • Only the International Morse set is supported — Latin letters, digits, and common punctuation. Logographic scripts are not covered.
  • The decoder splits on spaces and slashes; non-standard run-on encodings may fail to parse.
  • Audio uses Web Audio; some browsers require an explicit user click before sound will play.
  • WAV size scales with speed and text length — long passages produce large files.
  • There is no microphone recognition — you cannot pipe a physical key in and get text out.
  • Morse is a public encoding, not encryption. Anyone fluent can read it.
  • Practice scores live in this browser only. Clearing site data wipes them.
  • Speeds follow the PARIS standard for WPM, the convention most teaching material assumes.

FAQ

Practical questions about formatting, playback, learning method, the Koch ramp, and accessibility usage.

Does Morse support Chinese or other non-Latin scripts?

International Morse only covers Latin letters, digits, and a few marks. For Chinese, you typically transliterate to pinyin or use the four-digit Chinese telegraph code — a separate scheme.

What spacing belongs between dots and dashes?

Timing-wise: one unit between dots and dashes inside a character, three between characters, seven between words. Output here writes the dots and dashes of each character without inner spaces, separates characters with a single space, and words with a slash.

How is WPM calculated?

The PARIS standard is the convention: PARIS takes 50 units to send, so sending it N times per minute equals N WPM. Farnsworth keeps character speed high and only stretches the gaps.

What is Farnsworth spacing for?

A literal 5 WPM stream trains you to count dots one by one, which becomes a speed ceiling. Farnsworth keeps each character at 18–20 WPM and only widens the gaps, so the rhythm you learn matches a real contact.

What is the Koch method?

Koch starts with two letters (often K and M) at near-target speed. Once accuracy exceeds ~90%, a new letter joins. It avoids the speed wall most learners hit when they try to memorise the whole alphabet first.

Why is there no sound when I press play?

Some browsers require user interaction before audio can start. Click once more, check system volume, and make sure the page is not muted.

Can I drop the exported WAV straight into a video?

Yes — it is 16-bit PCM at 44.1 kHz mono and imports cleanly into common editors. Convert to MP3 separately if needed.

Can I plug in a real Morse key?

Not directly. The key-the-code drill takes dot and dash on your keyboard. Physical keys usually go through a USB or serial adapter with matching software.

Can Morse be used to keep a message secret?

No. Anyone who knows Morse can decode it in seconds. Use proper encryption if confidentiality matters.

Why does my decoded output have question marks?

Question marks mark code groups outside the standard chart — usually off-by-one spacing, an unexpected character, or a non-standard dialect.

Can multiple people practise on different devices?

Yes. No login or server is involved — each browser keeps its own scores. For team progress, use a separate collaboration tool.

Do high scores upload anywhere?

No. They live only in this browser via local storage and disappear when you clear site data.

Related tools

Related work next door: combine Base64 or URL encoding into your payload, turn a short message into a QR image, or print barcode labels.