Morse Code Translator
Type a phrase or paste Morse — auto-detected — and we convert instantly. Standard international Morse code with word breaks.
Example:
SOS → ... --- ...
Morse code is a 160-year-old encoding for transmitting text via telegraph, radio, light flashes, or knocking sounds. Each letter is a short sequence of dots (·) and dashes (—); letters are separated by single spaces, words by a forward slash /.
This translator auto-detects which way you're going: dots-and-dashes get decoded to text; everything else gets encoded to Morse. The standard international Morse code is used (used worldwide; American Morse is a different older variant).
Use cases
Amateur radio (ham) operators
CW (continuous wave) — the technical name for Morse — is still actively used by amateur radio operators because it punches through noise where voice can't. Pre-write your message here, then send it on the key.
Boy/Girl Scout merit badges
Morse code is a classic Scout merit badge requirement. Encode a message for your patrol then decode their reply.
Secret notes and puzzles
Hide a message at the bottom of a birthday card, an escape-room prop, or a mystery-novel manuscript. Recipients paste it back into the decoder.
Maritime and aviation reference
Although superseded by digital systems, Morse is still in international maritime and aviation reference manuals — knowing how to decode SOS (… — — — …) and the navigation beacons remains useful.
Naming things creatively
Brand a project with a Morse-encoded name, encode an inside joke into a piece of art, or use Morse rhythm in a percussion track.
Frequently asked questions
What's the famous SOS pattern?
Three dots, three dashes, three dots: ... --- .... Note that proper SOS is sent as a single 9-element "prosign" with no inter-letter gaps — the international distress signal isn't actually three separate letters.
Does it support punctuation?
Yes — period, comma, question mark, exclamation, apostrophe, slash, colon, semicolon, equals, plus, hyphen, underscore, quote, and at-sign are all supported.
How fast can people send Morse?
Skilled operators routinely hit 25 words per minute; the world record is over 75 WPM. The standard "PARIS" timing benchmark equates 1 WPM to roughly 50 dot-units per minute.
Can I generate audio from this?
This tool outputs text only. For audio, paste the dots-and-dashes into any free Morse playback site — most modern Morse audio players accept the same notation.