Morse Code Translator​

Convert text into International Morse Code, or decode Morse code back into text, and estimate how long the message takes to send using the standard PARIS timing method at your chosen speed (WPM).

Quick Facts

Standard
International Morse Code (ITU-R M.1677-1)
A dot lasts 1 unit and a dash lasts 3 units; WPM is converted to seconds with the standard PARIS timing method (1 unit = 1.2 / WPM seconds).

Your Results

Calculated
Translated result
-
Text or Morse code output
Characters translated
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Letters, digits & punctuation
Estimated send time
-
PARIS timing at chosen WPM
Unit (dot) length
-
Duration of one Morse unit

Ready

Enter a message, choose a direction, and press Translate.

About the Morse Code Translator

This tool converts text into International Morse Code, and decodes Morse code back into readable text. Morse code represents every letter, digit, and common punctuation mark as a sequence of short signals ("dots") and long signals ("dashes"), standardized worldwide as ITU-R M.1677-1.

How the encoding and decoding work

Each character maps to a fixed dot-dash sequence from the International Morse Code table. When encoding text, the letters of a word are separated by a single space, and each word is separated by a forward slash ( / ) surrounded by spaces. Decoding reverses the process: the message is split on slashes to find word boundaries, each word is split on spaces to find letter boundaries, and every dot-dash group is looked up in the same table.

How the send time is calculated

Speed is measured in words per minute (WPM) using the standard PARIS method: the reference word "PARIS", including the space after it, contains exactly 50 dot-length time units. That fixes the duration of one unit at 1.2 ÷ WPM seconds, and every other timing value follows from it:

  • Unit length: 1.2 ÷ WPM seconds — the duration of a single dot.
  • Dot: 1 unit. Dash: 3 units.
  • Gap inside a letter (between its dots and dashes): 1 unit.
  • Gap between letters: 3 units.
  • Gap between words: 7 units.

The calculator adds up these durations across every dot, dash, and gap in your message to produce the estimated send time, and separately reports the unit (dot) length in milliseconds so you can compare speeds.

Quick reference

A few landmarks from the standard table: E is a single dot (.), T is a single dash (-), S is three dots (...), O is three dashes (---), so SOS is "... --- ...". Digits are five elements each, from 1 (.----) to 0 (-----). The calculator's built-in table covers all 26 letters, all 10 digits, and common punctuation such as the period, comma, and question mark.

Frequently Asked Questions

What standard does this Morse code translator use?
It uses the International Morse Code alphabet (ITU-R M.1677-1) together with the PARIS timing method: a dot lasts 1 unit, a dash lasts 3 units, the gap inside a letter is 1 unit, the gap between letters is 3 units, and the gap between words is 7 units. One unit lasts 1.2 / WPM seconds, based on the reference word PARIS.
How do I format Morse code so it decodes correctly?
Do not put a space inside a letter's own dots and dashes. Put a single space between letters, and a forward slash surrounded by spaces between words. For example, SOS is "... --- ..." and "SOS HELP" is "... --- ... / .... . .-.. .--.".
What happens to characters that are not in the Morse alphabet?
When encoding, any character outside the standard letters, digits, and common punctuation is shown as the Morse error signal, eight dots in a row. When decoding, a dot-dash group that does not match any known letter is shown as a question mark so you can find and fix it.

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