Convert text to binary (UTF‑8)
Use this tool when you need the binary representation of text as 8‑bit bytes.
It works by:
- Encoding your text into UTF‑8 bytes (the same encoding used on the web).
- Converting each byte into an 8‑bit binary value.
This means:
- Plain English text is usually 1 byte per character.
- Greek, accented letters, symbols, and emoji can use multiple bytes in UTF‑8.
So this converter is about bytes, not “binary math”.
How to use the Text (UTF‑8) to Binary converter
- Paste or type your text into the input.
- Select Binary as the output format.
- Copy the output.
Output format: the converter returns 8‑bit groups separated by spaces. Each group is one byte.
What you’ll get as output
8‑bit bytes, separated by spaces
Binary output uses 8 digits per byte, like:
01001000(one byte)01001000 01101001(two bytes)
Examples (ASCII vs multi‑byte)
| Input text | What happens in UTF‑8 | Output (binary bytes) |
|---|---|---|
Hi | 2 characters → 2 bytes | 01001000 01101001 |
Ω | 1 character → 2 bytes | 11001110 10101001 |
🙂 | 1 emoji → 4 bytes | 4× 8‑bit bytes |
The last two examples are why “one character = one byte” is not always true.
Common use cases
- Learning & teaching: see how text becomes binary at the byte level
- Encoding debugging: spot when text is not ASCII and requires multiple bytes
- Networking & protocols: visualize payload bytes for documentation
- Security / CTF practice: quickly convert strings into byte sequences
- Software tests: generate byte-level fixtures for UTF‑8 strings
Troubleshooting
My output looks “longer than expected”
That’s normal for UTF‑8.
- ASCII text: typically 1 byte per character
- Greek letters / accented characters: often 2 bytes
- Emoji: often 4 bytes
I need a different separator (comma, newline, 0b prefix)
Most systems accept space-separated bytes. If yours needs a special format, convert here first, then apply a formatting step (replace spaces with commas, add prefixes, etc.).
How It Works
- Input text is encoded as UTF-8 bytes
- Bytes are converted into the selected representation
- Decoding reverses the mapping back to text
- Each line is processed independently
- All logic runs locally in real time
