Morse Code Decoder

Paste Morse code made of dots and dashes and press Decode. You get the plain text with a pattern-by-pattern breakdown, and you can play the code as sound.

Try an example

Use . and - (• and — work too). Put a space between letters and a slash, a pipe, a new line, or three spaces between words.

International Morse code chart (click a letter to hear it)

About this Morse code decoder

Decoding Morse code means splitting the signal into letters and words and looking up each pattern of dots and dashes. This decoder follows the International Morse code standard and understands the common ways people write it: dots and dashes or bullets and long dashes, a space between letters, and a slash, a pipe, a new line, or a wider gap between words. Each pattern is shown with the character it stands for, and any pattern that is not in the standard alphabet appears as a question mark so you can spot typos. You can also play the code at the speed and pitch you like to practise listening.

How to decode Morse code

  1. Paste the code. Enter dots and dashes with a space between letters and a slash between words, or press an example.
  2. Press Decode. Read the decoded text and check the breakdown. Patterns marked with a red border were not recognized.
  3. Listen if you like. Press Play sound to hear the code, and open the chart to hear single characters while you learn.

Frequently asked questions

How do I separate letters and words?

Put one space between the letters of a word, and a slash, a pipe, a line break, or at least three spaces between words. Without these gaps, the dots and dashes of neighboring letters would run together.

Why does my result contain question marks?

A question mark means a pattern is not part of International Morse code, often because a space is missing between two letters. The unknown patterns are listed under the result so you can fix them.

Can I paste Morse code written with • and —?

Yes. Bullets, middle dots, and long or short dashes are all read as dots and dashes, so code copied from websites or documents usually works without editing.

What does ...---... mean?

Written without spaces, it is the distress signal SOS, sent as one unbroken sequence. Add spaces as ... --- ... to decode it as the letters S, O, S.

Can this decode Morse code from an audio recording?

No. It decodes written dots and dashes. To decode a recording, write down the short and long beeps first, then paste them here.