Binary Converter and Binary Translator

A binary converter changes a value between binary (base 2) and another form, such as text, decimal or hexadecimal. A binary translator does the same job for words: it turns letters into 0s and 1s, and 0s and 1s back into letters. This page does both in one box.

By Matt Dean · Last updated November 8, 2026 · How we test our converters

What this binary converter can do

• Text to binary: every character becomes an 8-bit byte, using UTF-8 (which matches ASCII for English letters).
• Binary to text: paste bytes with spaces, commas, 0b prefixes or as one long stream.
• Decimal to binary and back: whole numbers of any size, plus fractions such as 10.625.
• Binary to hex and hex to binary: grouped four bits at a time.
• Auto-detect: the tool picks the right conversion, and you can override it with the tabs.

Binary converter vs binary translator

People use both names for overlapping jobs. The practical difference is what goes in and what comes out.

	Binary converter	Binary translator
Typical input	A number: 42, 0xFF, 101010	Words: Hello, I love you
Typical output	Another number base	A string of bytes, or the text they encode
How it works	Place values and powers of 2	A character table (ASCII or UTF-8)
Tool on this site	Decimal to binary, binary to hex	Text to binary, binary to text

How to use the binary converter

1. Type or paste your value into the input box. Text, a decimal number, a hex value (with 0x) or binary all work.
2. Check the detected mode above the result. If it guessed wrong, click a tab such as Text → Binary.
3. Copy the result, or open Show the steps to see how it was calculated.

Four quick examples

You enter	Mode	Result
Hi	Text → Binary	01001000 01101001
1011	Binary → Decimal	11
13	Decimal → Binary	1101
0x2F	Hex → Binary	0010 1111

Emoji work too. The grinning face 😀 is four UTF-8 bytes, 11110000 10011111 10011000 10000000.

How the conversions work

Text to binary

Each character has a numeric code. The letter A is 65, which is 01000001 in binary. The converter looks up the code, writes it in base 2, and pads it to 8 bits. Characters outside basic English, such as é or €, take two or three bytes in UTF-8.

Decimal to binary

Divide the number by 2 repeatedly and keep the remainders. Reading the remainders from last to first gives the binary number. For 13: 13 ÷ 2 = 6 r1, 6 ÷ 2 = 3 r0, 3 ÷ 2 = 1 r1, 1 ÷ 2 = 0 r1, so 13 is 1101. See the full guide on converting decimal to binary.

Binary to decimal

Multiply each bit by its power of 2 and add the results. For 1011: 1×8 + 0×4 + 1×2 + 1×1 = 11. The binary to decimal guide shows a faster doubling method.

Quick reference: powers of two

Power	Decimal value	Binary
20	1	1
21	2	10
22	4	100
23	8	1000
24	16	10000
25	32	100000
26	64	1000000
27	128	10000000
28	256	100000000
29	512	1000000000
210	1024	10000000000

Quick reference: 0 to 15 in binary and hex

Decimal	Binary (4 bits)	Hex
0	0000	0
1	0001	1
2	0010	2
3	0011	3
4	0100	4
5	0101	5
6	0110	6
7	0111	7
8	1000	8
9	1001	9
10	1010	A
11	1011	B
12	1100	C
13	1101	D
14	1110	E
15	1111	F

Accuracy and privacy

The conversion runs entirely in your browser, so what you type is never sent to our servers. We check the tools against more than 900 reference cases, including emoji, accented text and numbers over 60 digits long. Details are on the methodology page.

Binary converter FAQ

How do I convert text to binary?

Replace each character with its character code, then write each code as an 8-bit binary number. For example, A is 65, which is 01000001. The text to binary converter does this automatically.

How do I convert binary to text?

Split the binary into groups of 8 bits, convert each group to a decimal number, and look up the character. 01001000 is 72, which is the letter H. Use the binary to text converter to do it instantly.

How do I convert binary to decimal?

Multiply each bit by 2 raised to its position, counting from 0 on the right, and add the results. 1011 is 8 + 0 + 2 + 1, which equals 11.

How do I convert decimal to binary?

Divide by 2 repeatedly and write down the remainders, then read them from bottom to top. 13 becomes 1101.

Is this binary converter free and private?

Yes. It is free, needs no signup, and runs in your browser, so your input is not uploaded.

Why does my binary not decode?

The most common causes are a bit count that is not a multiple of 8, characters other than 0 and 1, or bytes that are not valid UTF-8. The tool tells you which problem it found.

What is the difference between binary and hexadecimal?

Hexadecimal is a shorter way to write binary: every hex digit stands for exactly four bits. So 11010110 is D6 in hex. Try the binary to hex converter.

Can it convert emoji and accented letters?

Yes. It uses UTF-8, so é becomes two bytes and an emoji becomes four.

Binary numbers explained

Binary is the number system computers use. It has two digits, 0 and 1, called bits. Where decimal place values are powers of ten (1, 10, 100, 1000), binary place values are powers of two (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128).

To read a binary number, add the place values of the positions that hold a 1. For 1101: 8 + 4 + 0 + 1 = 13. To write a number in binary, find which powers of two add up to it. The decimal to binary converter does this for you and shows each division step.

Counting from 0 to 31 in binary

Decimal	Binary	Decimal	Binary
0	00000	16	10000
1	00001	17	10001
2	00010	18	10010
3	00011	19	10011
4	00100	20	10100
5	00101	21	10101
6	00110	22	10110
7	00111	23	10111
8	01000	24	11000
9	01001	25	11001
10	01010	26	11010
11	01011	27	11011
12	01100	28	11100
13	01101	29	11101
14	01110	30	11110
15	01111	31	11111

Bits, bytes and larger units

• 1 bit holds a 0 or a 1.
• 1 nibble is 4 bits and maps to one hexadecimal digit.
• 1 byte is 8 bits and can store 256 values (0 to 255). One byte holds one English letter.
• 1 kilobyte is 1,000 bytes in SI units, or 1,024 bytes (a kibibyte) in binary units.

Where binary is used

• Storing text, numbers, images, audio and video in memory and on disk.
• Networking: IP addresses and subnet masks are binary underneath.
• Web colors: #2563EB is three bytes, 00100101 01100011 11101011.
• Programming and electronics: flags, bit masks and logic gates.

New to the topic? Start with the guide what is binary.

Binary conversion cheat sheet

Common values in decimal, binary and hexadecimal. Bookmark this table for quick checks.

Decimal	Binary	Hex
1	1	1
2	10	2
4	100	4
8	1000	8
10	1010	A
16	10000	10
32	100000	20
64	1000000	40
100	1100100	64
127	1111111	7F
128	10000000	80
255	11111111	FF
256	100000000	100
1000	1111101000	3E8
1024	10000000000	400

Quick rules to remember

• A binary number ending in 0 is even; ending in 1 is odd.
• Adding a 0 on the right doubles the number (101 is 5, 1010 is 10).
• n bits can represent 2^n values, from 0 to 2^n – 1.
• Eight 1s in a row (11111111) is 255, the largest byte value.
• Four bits equal one hex digit, so convert binary to hex in groups of four.