ASCII Converter
Convert text to ASCII codes (decimal, hexadecimal, octal, and binary) and decode ASCII values back to readable text. Perfect for developers, students, and anyone working with character encoding.
What Is ASCII?
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is a character encoding standard that assigns a unique numeric value to 128 characters, including letters (A-Z, a-z), digits (0-9), punctuation marks, and control characters. Developed in the early 1960s and standardized in 1968, ASCII was the dominant character encoding for computers and telecommunications for decades. Each character is represented by a 7-bit integer from 0 to 127, though it is typically stored as an 8-bit byte.
This converter supports both encoding (text to ASCII codes) and decoding (ASCII codes to text) in four formats: decimal, hexadecimal, octal, and binary. It's an essential tool for developers, students, and anyone working with low-level data or character encoding.
How Does the ASCII Converter Work?
The converter operates in two directions:
Encode Mode (Text → ASCII):
Each character in your text is looked up in the ASCII table. Its numeric code is then displayed in decimal, hexadecimal, octal, and binary formats.
Decode Mode (ASCII → Text):
Each ASCII code (in any of the four formats) is converted back to its corresponding character. Codes should be separated by spaces.
The per-character breakdown table shows exactly how each character is represented in all four number systems, making it easy to understand the relationship between text and its underlying binary representation.
Why Use This ASCII Converter?
- Bidirectional: Encode text to ASCII codes and decode ASCII codes back to text.
- Four Formats: View results in decimal, hexadecimal, octal, and binary simultaneously.
- Per-Character Breakdown: See exactly how each character is represented.
- Customizable: Choose separators and binary padding options.
- Free & Private: No registration, no data storage.
ASCII vs Unicode
- ASCII: Uses 7 bits to represent 128 characters, covering English letters, digits, and common symbols. Developed in the 1960s.
- Unicode: A much larger standard that encodes over 149,000 characters from virtually all writing systems worldwide, including Chinese, Arabic, emoji, and mathematical notation.
- Compatibility: ASCII characters occupy exactly the same positions (0-127) in Unicode, so all ASCII text is valid Unicode. UTF-8 is the most common encoding, where ASCII characters use 1 byte.
❓ ASCII Converter FAQ
What is ASCII?
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is a character encoding standard that assigns a unique numeric value (0-127) to each character. It includes letters, digits, punctuation, and control characters.
How do I convert text to ASCII?
Enter your text in the input field, select "Encode" mode, and click Convert. Each character will be displayed as its decimal, hexadecimal, octal, and binary code. For example, 'A' = 65 decimal, 41 hex, 101 octal, 01000001 binary.
How do I decode ASCII codes to text?
Select "Decode" mode, choose the format of your input (decimal, hex, octal, or binary), enter the codes separated by spaces, and click Convert. The tool will reconstruct the original text.
What is the ASCII code for a space?
The ASCII code for a space character is 32 in decimal, 20 in hexadecimal, 040 in octal, and 00100000 in binary. Space is the lowest-numbered printable ASCII character.
What are ASCII control characters?
ASCII control characters are the first 32 codes (0-31) plus code 127 (DEL). They are non-printable characters used for communication control. Examples include NUL (0), TAB (9), LF (10), CR (13), and ESC (27).
What is the difference between ASCII and Unicode?
ASCII uses 7 bits to represent 128 characters, covering English letters, digits, and common symbols. Unicode is a much larger standard that encodes over 149,000 characters from virtually all writing systems worldwide. ASCII characters occupy the same positions (0-127) in Unicode.
What is extended ASCII?
Extended ASCII refers to various 8-bit character encodings that use codes 128-255 to represent additional characters. These are not part of the original ASCII standard and vary between different systems.
What is the difference between uppercase and lowercase in ASCII?
Uppercase letters A-Z have codes 65-90, and lowercase letters a-z have codes 97-122. The difference between any uppercase letter and its lowercase counterpart is exactly 32. For example, A=65 and a=97.
What is the ASCII code for the letter 'A'?
The ASCII code for 'A' is 65 in decimal, 41 in hexadecimal, 101 in octal, and 01000001 in binary.
How do I convert decimal ASCII codes to text?
Select "Decode" mode, choose "Decimal" as the input format, enter the decimal codes separated by spaces (e.g., "72 101 108 108 111"), and click Convert. The tool will decode them to text.
What is the difference between 7-bit and 8-bit binary?
ASCII is a 7-bit standard (0-127), but it is typically stored as an 8-bit byte with the most significant bit set to 0. 8-bit binary padding shows the full byte, while 7-bit shows only the ASCII bits.
What is the ASCII code for a newline?
The ASCII code for line feed (LF, newline) is 10 in decimal, 0A in hexadecimal, 012 in octal, and 00001010 in binary. Carriage return (CR) is code 13.
How do I convert hex ASCII codes to text?
Select "Decode" mode, choose "Hexadecimal" as the input format, enter the hex codes separated by spaces (e.g., "48 65 6C 6C 6F"), and click Convert. The tool will decode them to text.
What is the ASCII code for the digit '0'?
The ASCII code for '0' is 48 in decimal, 30 in hexadecimal, 060 in octal, and 00110000 in binary.
How do I convert binary ASCII codes to text?
Select "Decode" mode, choose "Binary" as the input format, enter the binary codes separated by spaces (e.g., "01001000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111"), and click Convert. The tool will decode them to text.
What is the difference between ASCII and ANSI?
ANSI (American National Standards Institute) refers to a family of extended ASCII code pages that include additional characters for different languages and regions. Unlike standard ASCII (0-127), ANSI codes use 8 bits and vary by code page.
How do I convert octal ASCII codes to text?
Select "Decode" mode, choose "Octal" as the input format, enter the octal codes separated by spaces (e.g., "110 145 154 154 157"), and click Convert. The tool will decode them to text.
What is the ASCII code for the exclamation mark?
The ASCII code for '!' is 33 in decimal, 21 in hexadecimal, 041 in octal, and 00100001 in binary.