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Turn text into Morse code or Morse code back into text as you type. Hear it as sound with a flashing light, slow it down to learn, write it in 5 styles, and download it as a WAV file.
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Last updated: October 5, 2026 · Published: 2026-04-09 · Updated: 2026-10-05
Type <SOS>, <AR>, or <SK> to send a prosign as one signal.
Dots and dashes
.... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -..
10 characters · 111 units · 6.7 s at 20 WPM
Hear it and see it
6.7 s at 20 WPM · 600 Hz tone
All 5 ways to write it
Morse code writes letters, numbers, and punctuation as patterns of short and long signals called dots and dashes, or dits and dahs. It can be sent as sound, light, or taps. A dash is three times as long as a dot, and the gaps between letters and words are timed too. "Hello world" in Morse code is .... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -...
The version used today is International Morse code, defined by the International Telecommunication Union in recommendation ITU-R M.1677-1. It covers the 26 letters A to Z, the accented É, the digits 0 to 9, and 14 punctuation marks and signs. This generator uses that standard, plus a few widely used extras such as the exclamation mark.
Type or paste
Type text to turn it into Morse code, or switch to Morse to text and paste dots and dashes. Both update as you type, letter by letter.
Choose how to write it
Pick one of 5 styles: dots and dashes, middle dots, dit and dah, timing blocks, or 1s and 0s for blinking an LED.
Hear it, copy it, or save it
Play the code as sound with a flashing light at 5 to 40 words per minute, copy any style, or download a WAV file.
All 26 letters with their dots and dashes and how they sound. There is no lowercase in Morse code.
Alfred Vail gave the shortest codes to the letters that appear most often in English, which he estimated by counting a printer’s type. The code has been revised since, but common letters are still the quickest to send.
| Dots and dashes | Letters |
|---|---|
| 1 | E T |
| 2 | A I M N |
| 3 | D G K O R S U W |
| 4 | B C F H J L P Q V X Y Z |
14 of these are in the ITU standard. The others are common conventions that most translators and operators understand.
| Sign | Name | Morse code | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| . | Full stop (period) | .-.-.- | ITU |
| , | Comma | --..-- | ITU |
| : | Colon | ---... | ITU |
| ? | Question mark | ..--.. | ITU |
| ' | Apostrophe | .----. | ITU |
| - | Hyphen or minus | -....- | ITU |
| / | Slash (fraction bar) | -..-. | ITU |
| ( | Left bracket | -.--. | ITU |
| ) | Right bracket | -.--.- | ITU |
| " | Quotation marks | .-..-. | ITU |
| = | Double hyphen (equals) | -...- | ITU |
| + | Plus (cross) | .-.-. | ITU |
| × | Multiplication sign | -..- | ITU · Same as X |
| @ | At sign | .--.-. | ITU · Added in 2004 |
| ! | Exclamation mark | -.-.-- | Informal · Not in the ITU list; proposed by Heathkit in the 1980s |
| & | Ampersand | .-... | Informal · Same as the wait signal |
| ; | Semicolon | -.-.-. | Informal |
| _ | Underscore | ..--.- | Informal |
| $ | Dollar sign | ...-..- | Informal |
É is the only accented letter in the ITU standard. The rest come from Friedrich Gerke’s German code and national variants, and some share a code.
| Letter | Morse code | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| É | ..-.. | The only accented letter in the ITU standard |
| Ä | .-.- | From Gerke's 1848 code |
| Ö | ---. | From Gerke's 1848 code |
| Ü | ..-- | From Gerke's 1848 code |
| CH | ---- | From Gerke's 1848 code |
| Ñ | --.-- | Spanish Morse |
| À | .--.- | Shared with Å |
| Å | .--.- | Shared with À |
| Ç | -.-.. | National variant |
| È | .-..- | National variant |
Each one is generated by the translator above, with its length and how long it takes at 20 words per minute.
| Text | Morse code | Units | At 20 WPM | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOS | ... --- ... | 27 | 1.6 s | As letters with gaps. Type <SOS> to send it as one distress signal. |
| <SOS> | ...---... | 23 | 1.4 s | The distress signal as operators send it, with no gaps between the letters. |
| HELLO WORLD | .... . .-.. .-.. --- / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. | 111 | 6.7 s | The classic first message. |
| I LOVE YOU | .. / .-.. --- ...- . / -.-- --- ..- | 93 | 5.6 s | A popular message for bracelets, tattoos, and light signals. |
| WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT | .-- .... .- - / .... .- - .... / --. --- -.. / .-- .-. --- ..- --. .... - | 189 | 11 s | Samuel Morse's first public message on May 24, 1844. |
| CQ CQ DE | -.-. --.- / -.-. --.- / -.. . | 79 | 4.7 s | How a radio operator starts a call to any station. |
| 73 | --... ...-- | 29 | 1.7 s | Radio shorthand for best regards. |
| PARIS | .--. .- .-. .. ... | 43 | 2.6 s | The standard word for measuring speed: 50 units long. |
"SOS" in each style the generator can write and read back.
| Style | SOS | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Dots and dashes | ... --- ... | Periods and hyphens, a space between letters and / between words. Works everywhere. |
| Middle dots | ··· −−− ··· | · and − are easier to read in print, posters, and tattoos. |
| Dit and dah | di-di-dit dah-dah-dah di-di-dit | How Morse sounds. Operators say di for a dot inside a letter and dit at the end. |
| Timing blocks | ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ | ▄ for a dot and ▄▄▄ for a dash, with gaps drawn to scale. |
| On/off timing | 101010001110111011100010101 | 1 is signal on and 0 is off for one unit each. Use it to blink an LED or buzzer. |
ITU-R M.1677-1 sets every part of Morse code in units, where one unit is the length of a dot.
| Part | Length in units | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Dot (dit) | 1 | The short signal |
| Dash (dah) | 3 | The long signal |
| Gap inside a letter | 1 | Between the dot and dash of A (.-) |
| Gap between letters | 3 | Between the S and O of SOS |
| Gap between words | 7 | Shown as / in written Morse |
Speed is measured in words per minute using the word PARIS, which is exactly 50 units including the gap after it. That makes one unit 1200 ÷ WPM milliseconds. Some tests use CODEX instead, which is 60 units, so speeds measured the two ways can differ.
| Speed | Dot | Dash | Word gap | “Hello world” |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 WPM | 240 ms | 720 ms | 1680 ms | 27 s |
| 10 WPM | 120 ms | 360 ms | 840 ms | 13 s |
| 13 WPM | 92 ms | 277 ms | 646 ms | 10 s |
| 15 WPM | 80 ms | 240 ms | 560 ms | 8.9 s |
| 20 WPM | 60 ms | 180 ms | 420 ms | 6.7 s |
| 25 WPM | 48 ms | 144 ms | 336 ms | 5.3 s |
| 30 WPM | 40 ms | 120 ms | 280 ms | 4.4 s |
| 40 WPM | 30 ms | 90 ms | 210 ms | 3.3 s |
Counting dots slows you down. The Farnsworth method plays each letter at full speed so you learn its sound, and stretches the gaps between letters and words to give you time to think. The generator uses the ARRL’s Farnsworth timing formula: set Speed to 18 or 20 WPM and Spacing to 5 WPM, then close the gap as you improve.
Prosigns are run together with no gap between the letters. Type them in angle brackets, such as <SK>, to send them that way. Some share a code with a punctuation mark.
| Prosign | Morse code | Meaning | Same code as |
|---|---|---|---|
| SOS | ...---... | Distress call, sent as one signal with no gaps between the letters | — |
| <AR> | .-.-. | End of message | + |
| <SK> | ...-.- | End of contact (the ITU calls it end of work) | — |
| <BT> | -...- | Break or new paragraph | = |
| <KN> | -.--. | Go ahead, only the station I am talking to | ( |
| <K> | -.- | Invitation to transmit (go ahead) | K |
| <AS> | .-... | Wait | & |
| <SN> | ...-. | Understood | — |
| <HH> | ........ | Error, eight dots | — |
| <KA> | -.-.- | Starting signal, sent before a transmission | — |
CQ -.-. --.-
Calling any station
DE -.. .
From (this is)
R .-.
Received
TU - ..-
Thank you
73 --... ...--
Best regards
88 ---.. ---..
Love and kisses
From the telegraph to phone keyboards, in dates.
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1840 | Alfred Vail, working with Samuel Morse, expands Morse's number code to letters, giving the shortest codes to the letters found most often in a printer's type cases. |
| May 24, 1844 | Morse sends "What hath God wrought" from Washington to Baltimore, the first public message on the telegraph line. In International Morse it is .-- .... .- - / .... .- - .... / --. --- -.. / .-- .-. --- ..- --. .... -. |
| 1848 | Friedrich Gerke simplifies the code for the Hamburg to Cuxhaven telegraph line, using dots and dashes of fixed length. |
| May 17, 1865 | The International Telegraph Conference in Paris standardizes International Morse code, based mostly on Gerke's version. Only E, H, K, and N keep their original codes. |
| July 1, 1908 | SOS comes into force as the international distress signal, agreed at the 1906 Berlin radiotelegraph conference. |
| April 1912 | Titanic's wireless operators Jack Phillips and Harold Bride send the older distress call CQD, then switch to SOS. |
| 1966 | US prisoner of war Jeremiah Denton blinks T-O-R-T-U-R-E in Morse code during a televised interview staged by his captors. |
| February 1, 1999 | The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System replaces Morse code for distress calls at sea. |
| July 12, 1999 | The last commercial Morse transmission in the US signs off with "What hath God wrought" and the prosign SK. |
| May 24, 2004 | The ITU adds the at sign @ (.--.-.) to Morse code, its first new character in decades, so email addresses can be sent. |
| February 23, 2007 | The FCC drops the Morse code test for US amateur radio licenses. |
| July 2018 | Google adds Morse code typing to Gboard on iOS and Android, built with Tania Finlayson. |
Translating and decoding Morse code, SOS, timing and speed, punctuation, learning, and history.
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