Free Online Text to Binary Converter
How to Use This Text to Binary Converter
- Type or paste your text in the input box above
- Click "Convert to Binary" to transform your text into binary code
- View the binary output in the results box
- Use the "Copy Binary" button to copy the results to your clipboard
- Click "Clear" to start over with a new conversion
What Is Binary Code?
Binary code is the fundamental language of computers, representing all data as sequences of 0s and 1s. Each binary digit (bit) is the most basic unit of information in computing. When you convert text to binary, each character from your original text is translated into its 8-bit binary equivalent based on the ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) or Unicode standard.
Why Convert Text to Binary?
Understanding binary conversion is essential for:
- Computer science students learning about data representation
- Programmers working with low-level systems
- Anyone curious about how computers process information
- Creating simple encryption or encoding systems
- Understanding the fundamental building blocks of digital technology
How Text to Binary Conversion Works
Our converter follows these steps to transform your text:
- Receives your input text string
- Processes each character individually
- Finds the Unicode code point for each character
- Converts the decimal value to its 8-bit binary representation
- Combines all binary sequences to form the complete output
For example, the letter "A" (ASCII 65) converts to binary as 01000001, while a space character (ASCII 32) becomes 00100000.
Common Binary Conversion Examples
| Character | ASCII Code | Binary Representation |
|---|---|---|
| Space | 32 | 00100000 |
| A | 65 | 01000001 |
| a | 97 | 01100001 |
| 0 (zero) | 48 | 00110000 |
| ! | 33 | 00100001 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between ASCII and Unicode in binary conversion?
ASCII uses 7 bits (extended to 8) and can represent 128-256 characters, while Unicode can represent over 140,000 characters using variable-length encoding (UTF-8, UTF-16, etc.). Our converter uses UTF-16 encoding to handle all Unicode characters.
Can I convert binary back to text?
Yes! This process is called binary to text decoding. Each 8-bit binary sequence is converted back to its corresponding character. Many online tools offer this reverse conversion capability.
Why are there 8 binary digits per character?
Standard ASCII characters use 7 bits (0-127), but extended ASCII uses 8 bits (0-255). Modern systems typically use 8 bits (1 byte) per character as the basic unit, even though Unicode characters may require more bytes for certain characters.
Is binary code the same as hexadecimal?
No, binary is base-2 (only 0s and 1s) while hexadecimal is base-16 (0-9 and A-F). Hexadecimal is often used as a more compact representation of binary data, with each hex digit representing 4 binary digits.