Morse Code Translator

How to use

1. Under "Direction", choose "Text → Morse code" or "Morse code → Text"
2. Under "Code", choose "International" for Latin letters and digits or "Wabun" for Japanese kana
3. Type text, or Morse code written in dots and dashes, into the input. The result updates as you type
4. Under "Dots and dashes", choose . and - (ASCII) or ・ and － (fullwidth). This changes how the result and the chart are written
5. "Copy result" puts the result on the clipboard. "Move result to input and reverse" moves the result into the input and flips the direction
6. Under "Listen", the signal is drawn as a strip. Each dark bar is a tone and the line between bars is silence, in the same proportions as they sound. The character of each code is written under its bars. The strip shows up to the first 300 letters, stopping before the letter that would take it past 1,500 bars. A very long gap, or a very long code that is not in the chart, is drawn shorter, with a break mark (two slanted strokes) across it
7. "Play" sounds the Morse code. While it plays, the code sounding now lights up on the strip, the codes already sent stay dark and the codes still to come are faint. The character and code being played also appear beside "Play". "Save as WAV" saves the same sound as morse-code.wav

Translation and sound are produced entirely in your browser, and the text you enter is not sent anywhere. Closing the page clears the input.

How Morse code is written

The result separates letters with one space and words with /. Line breaks stay as line breaks.

Write Morse code the same way to turn it back into text.

• Dots can be ., ・, · or •
• Dashes can be -, －, −, –, —, _ or ー
• Separate letters with one or two spaces, and words with /, | or three or more spaces
• A code that is not in the chart, or a group containing anything other than dots and dashes, is left in the result in [ ] such as [..--], and listed below the result

The same dots and dashes stand for different characters in International and Wabun code. For example, .. is I in International code but the voicing mark ゛ in Wabun. If the text comes out wrong, try switching the code.

Example

SOS HELP in International code becomes:

... --- ... / .... . .-.. .--.

モールス ("Morse") in Wabun becomes the following. The long vowel mark ー has its own code.

-..-. .--.- -.--. ---.-

がっこう ("school") in Wabun sends ガ as two codes, カ and the voicing mark ゛, and the small ッ with the code for the full-size ツ:

.-.. .. .--. ---- ..-

When Wabun code is turned back into text, a voicing or semi-voicing mark is joined to the kana just before it, giving ガ or パ. If it cannot be joined, it stays as ゛ or ゜. The result is written in katakana.

Wabun code rules

The Wabun codes follow the Wabun table in Appended Table 1 of Japan's Radio Station Operation Rules. Open "Code chart (Wabun)" on the page to see them in iroha order.

• Hiragana is sent with the same codes as katakana
• A voiced or semi-voiced kana is sent as the base kana followed by the voicing mark .. or the semi-voicing mark ..--.. ヴ is ウ followed by the voicing mark
• Small kana such as ァ, ッ, ャ, ュ and ョ have no codes of their own and are sent with the code of the full-size kana, so キャ becomes キヤ
• The full stop 。 is not in the table, so it is sent with the paragraph mark 」 code .-.-.. and comes back as 」
• The comma 、, the long vowel mark ー, the brackets （ and ）, and the digits 0 to 9 have codes. The digits use the same codes as International code
• Kanji, the middle dot ・, 「 and other characters not in the table are skipped and listed below the result. Rewrite kanji in kana first

International code rules

The International codes follow ITU-R Recommendation M.1677-1 and the International table of the same Japanese rules.

• Letters are not case-sensitive. Text turned back from Morse code is in capitals
• The digits 0 to 9 and . , : ? ' - / ( ) " = + @ have codes. × uses the same code as X
• ! & ; _ $, which are not in the standards but widely used, and É are also supported
• Write a procedural signal in < > such as <SOS> or <SK> to send its letters as one code without letter gaps. When turning Morse code back into text, ...---... (SOS), ........ (HH, error), ...-.- (SK), -.-.- (CT) and ...-. (SN), which are not characters in the table, are shown in < >
• .-.-. (AR) and -...- (BT) are the same codes as + and =, so they come back as + and =

Speed and timing

Speed is set in WPM (words per minute). With "PARIS" counted as one word, a dot lasts 1.2 ÷ WPM seconds, so 0.06 seconds at 20 WPM.

• A dash lasts three dots, and the gap between the dots and dashes of one letter lasts one dot
• The gap between letters lasts three dots and the gap between words seven dots. A line break counts as a gap between words
• Setting "Overall speed with spacing" below "Speed" keeps the dots and dashes as they are and lengthens only the gaps between letters and words (Farnsworth timing). At a speed of 20 and an overall speed of 10, each letter sounds fast while the whole message takes about as long as it would at 10 WPM. This is used to train your ear. On the strip the bars keep their length and only the gaps between them widen. Below the strip, the current lengths of a dot, a dash, a letter gap and a word gap are given in milliseconds
• "Pitch" can be from 200 to 1500 Hz. The default 600 Hz is a pitch that is easy to hear on the air

The approximate length is shown before you play. Anything longer than 10 minutes can be neither played nor saved. The WAV file is 16 kHz, 16-bit mono with 0.1 seconds of silence at each end.

FAQ

There is no sound

Browsers only play sound after you interact with the page, so the sound starts when you press "Play". Check that your device is not muted. If the browser still cannot play sound, the page says so. You can still listen to a file saved with "Save as WAV".

The text came back as different characters

The same dots and dashes can mean different characters in International and Wabun code, so try switching the code. If letters are not separated by spaces, two letters are read as one long code. Without / between words, the words run together in the text.

Can kanji be translated into Morse code?

No. Wabun code covers only kana and a few symbols. Rewrite kanji in hiragana or katakana first.

Can I translate text that mixes Latin letters and kana?

Each translation uses one code. International skips kana and Wabun skips Latin letters, and the skipped characters are listed below the result with a hint to switch. In Japanese radio practice, operators send ホレ (-.. ---) and ラタ (... -.) to switch between Wabun and International code. If needed, translate the Wabun and International parts separately and join them.

Is there a short form for Wabun digits?

The Japanese rules also allow abbreviated digits such as .- for 1 and - for 0. Because they collide with the kana codes, this tool does not use them and always writes digits with five dots and dashes.

Is the text I enter saved?

No. Translation and sound are produced only in your browser, and the text is never sent to a server.