How to use the translator
Type or paste into the box. If you type ordinary text, the translator turns it into Morse code. If you type Morse code, using full stops or dots for short signals, hyphens or dashes for long ones, spaces between letters and a slash between words, it reads it back as text. It decides which way to go by itself, and Swap sends the result back into the box.
Press Play to hear it. Open Sound and light settings to change the speed in words per minute, the pitch of the tone and the volume. Learners can use Farnsworth spacing: the letters are sent at full speed but with longer gaps between them, which helps you learn the sound of each letter instead of counting dots and dashes.
Save as sound file makes a WAV file in your browser that you can play anywhere. Copy puts the result on your clipboard, and Share link makes a link with your message in it, so the person you send it to sees the same translation.
Other alphabets
International Morse covers the English alphabet, numbers and common punctuation, plus codes for accented letters such as Ä, É, Ñ and Ü. Other writing systems have their own Morse alphabets, and the translator includes Russian (Cyrillic), Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Japanese Wabun code and Korean SKATS.
When you type in another script, the right alphabet is chosen for you. To read Morse code in another alphabet, choose it from the Alphabet list, because the same dots and dashes stand for different letters in each one. Japanese Morse uses katakana, so the translator converts hiragana for you, and Korean Morse spells out each syllable letter by letter.
Characters without a Morse code, such as emoji, are shown as # and listed under the result so you know what was left out.
Timing rules
Morse code is timed in units. A dot is one unit and a dash is three. There is one unit of silence between the signals in a letter, three units between letters and seven between words. At 20 words per minute a dot lasts 60 milliseconds; the speed is based on the word PARIS, which takes exactly 50 units to send.
Questions and answers
How do I type Morse code into the translator?
Use a full stop or dot for a short signal and a hyphen or dash for a long one. Put a space between letters and a slash (/) between words, for example .... .. / - .... . .-. .
What does # mean in the result?
It marks a character with no Morse code, or a code that is not part of the chosen alphabet. The characters or codes concerned are listed under the result.
Can I hear the Morse code?
Yes. Press Play. You can change the speed, the pitch and the volume, flash the screen in time with it, or make a phone vibrate where supported.
Is my message sent anywhere?
No. The translation, sound and file are all made in your browser. A share link carries your text after the # in the address, which browsers do not send to our server.
Which Morse alphabets are included?
International (with accented letters), Russian, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Japanese Wabun and Korean SKATS.