Why is SOS such a well-known pattern?

Its simple, easily recognizable pattern of three short, three long, three short signals made it a practical distress signal, formally adopted for international use.

How do I know where one letter ends and the next begins?

In this tool's output, a space separates letters and a forward slash separates words — in real audio Morse, pause timing conveys the same separations.

What's the official timing standard for Morse code?

Per ITU-R M.1677, a dash equals three dots, the gap between elements of the same letter equals one dot, the gap between letters equals three dots, and the gap between words equals seven dots.

Does this include accented characters or all punctuation?

It covers the standard Latin letters, digits, and common punctuation from ITU-R M.1677 — that recommendation itself doesn't tabulate most accented characters, and any unsupported symbol is simply skipped.

If I switch from Text → Morse to Morse → Text, does it carry over what I just converted?

No — each direction keeps its own separate input field. Switching modes reveals whatever was last typed in that mode, not an automatic conversion of your other field's content.

What happens if I type Morse code that isn't in the standard table, like an unrecognized sequence of dots and dashes?

It's silently dropped from the decoded output — the same behavior as an unsupported text character, with no error shown.

Does extra whitespace between words in the text input cause a problem?

No — any run of spaces or tabs is treated as a single word separator, so accidental double spaces don't create empty words in the output.

Why does my decoded output sometimes start with an unexpected space?

A leading or doubled slash in the Morse input (e.g. starting with "/") produces an empty first word before the real content, which renders as a stray leading space — worth trimming stray slashes from pasted Morse text.

Morse Code Converter

About the Morse Code Converter

Translates text into International Morse Code and back again, using the standard dot-and-dash encoding developed for early telegraph communication and still used today in amateur radio and signaling.

100% Free Runs in Your Browser No Sign-Up Required

How to use it

Choose a Direction: Text → Morse or Morse → Text.
Enter your Text or Morse code.
Copy the translated output below.

Formula

Each letter, number, and common punctuation mark maps to a unique sequence of dots and dashes, standardized by international agreement.

Character mappings follow ITU-R Recommendation M.1677, the current international standard for Morse code, most recently revised in 2009.

Worked example

SOS encodes to ... --- ..., one of the most recognized Morse sequences, historically used as a distress signal.

International Morse Code alphabet (ITU-R M.1677)

International Morse Code alphabet (ITU-R M.1677)
Char	Code	Char	Code
A	.-	N	-.
B	-...	O	---
C	-.-.	P	.--.
D	-..	Q	--.-
E	.	R	.-.
F	..-.	S	...
G	--.	T	-
H	....	U	..-
I	..	V	...-
J	.---	W	.--
K	-.-	X	-..-
L	.-..	Y	-.--
M	--	Z	--..
0	-----	5	.....
1	.----	6	-....
2	..---	7	--...
3	...--	8	---..
4	....-	9	----.

Recommendations

• Letters within a word are separated by a single space in the encoded output; words are separated by a forward slash.
• Morse code is case-insensitive — lowercase and uppercase letters encode identically.
• Not every symbol has a Morse equivalent — unsupported characters are simply skipped in the output.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, in limited contexts — amateur radio operators still use it, and it remains a recognized emergency signaling method, though no longer used for commercial telegraphy.

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