Binary to Text Converter
Convert binary code to readable text online. Free and instant conversion with support for ASCII and UTF-8 encoding.
Example Binary to Text Conversions
How Binary to Text Conversion Works
Binary to text conversion is the process of translating binary code (a series of 0s and 1s) into readable text characters. This conversion follows these steps:
- Group the binary digits into sets of 8 bits (1 byte)
- Convert each 8-bit binary value to its decimal equivalent
- Map each decimal value to its corresponding ASCII or UTF-8 character
- Combine all characters to form the final text string
For example, the binary sequence 01001000 converts to decimal 72, which represents the character 'H' in ASCII.
Binary Encoding Systems
Text can be encoded in binary using different encoding standards:
ASCII
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) uses 7 bits to represent 128 characters, including upper and lowercase letters, digits, punctuation marks, and control codes. Extended ASCII uses 8 bits to represent an additional 128 characters.
UTF-8
UTF-8 is a variable-width encoding that can represent any character in the Unicode standard. It uses 1 byte for standard ASCII characters and up to 4 bytes for other characters, making it ideal for multilingual text.
Practical Applications
- Data transmission over networks
- Digital communications systems
- Computer programming and debugging
- Cybersecurity and cryptography
- Digital data recovery
Frequently Asked Questions
In computing, characters are typically encoded using 8 bits (1 byte) as the smallest unit. ASCII characters use 7 or 8 bits, while UTF-8 uses 8 bits for standard characters and multiples of 8 for other characters. For proper conversion, the binary input should be in multiples of 8 to correctly map to character codes.
If your binary input contains characters other than 0s and 1s, our converter will remove them and attempt the conversion. If the resulting binary string is not divisible by 8, you'll receive an error message. Errors in the binary digits themselves can result in incorrect character outputs.
Yes, any language that can be represented in Unicode can be converted to binary and back. However, our converter primarily supports standard ASCII characters (English letters, numbers, and common symbols). Non-English characters may require special encoding considerations beyond the basic 8-bit ASCII encoding.
Binary is the foundation of computing because digital electronics can easily represent two states: on (1) or off (0). This binary system aligns perfectly with the electrical signals in computer hardware. All data in computers—text, images, videos, programs—is ultimately stored and processed as binary code.
| Character | ASCII | Binary |
|---|---|---|
| A | 65 | 01000001 |
| B | 66 | 01000010 |
| C | 67 | 01000011 |
| a | 97 | 01100001 |
| b | 98 | 01100010 |
| c | 99 | 01100011 |
| 1 | 49 | 00110001 |
| 2 | 50 | 00110010 |
| 3 | 51 | 00110011 |
| ! | 33 | 00100001 |
| @ | 64 | 01000000 |
| # | 35 | 00100011 |