FAQ
How is SOS written in Morse?
Three dots, three dashes, three dots. In standard notation letters are separated by a space and words by a slash.
Can Chinese be converted to Morse?
No. Morse only covers Latin letters, digits and common punctuation; Chinese would first need pinyin or a telegraph code.
How are words separated?
One space between letters and a slash between words, the internationally accepted convention.
About this tool
Two-way conversion between Latin letters, digits and common punctuation, with a click-to-copy reference table. The character set covers 26 letters, 10 digits and about 19 punctuation marks (the common subset of ITU-R M.1677).
The separator convention is where things go wrong, so it comes first: letters are separated by a single space and words by a slash (a vertical bar or three-plus spaces also work). Classic telegraph style is different - three spaces between letters and seven between words - so pasting a message in that format will be misread, because those gaps become word boundaries here. Both forms rest on the same principle: separators carry meaning, and if the format is wrong the decode is wrong.
Things people ask about:
- SOS is one group, not three letters: three dots, three dashes, three dots sent without pauses; it was chosen because that rhythm is the easiest to recognise.
- Chinese cannot be converted: the code covers Latin letters, digits and punctuation only. Sending Chinese needs pinyin first, or Chinese telegraph code (four digits) converted again - this tool does not include that layer.
- Unknown characters pass through: CJK and emoji stay as they are and the status bar reports how many characters had no mapping, instead of silently dropping them.
- Speed reference: 5 wpm (words per minute, PARIS method) is the amateur and exam baseline; 20 wpm and above is comfortable copy.
This is a text-only converter: no audio playback, no audio decoding, and no light-flashing variants.