A ? in the result means that group of symbols is not a valid International Morse character. Check the spacing: one space between letters, a slash (or three spaces) between words. Need to go the other way? Use the text to Morse translator.
Cheat sheet
Common patterns people look up
Most Morse questions are about one short pattern: "what is dot dot dash", "what does .-.. mean". Here are the ones people search for most, with the letter, the spoken form and a play button so you can hear the rhythm.
| Pattern | Letter | Spoken | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ...---... | SOS | Three dots, three dashes, three dots run together | The distress signal. Officially one prosign sent without letter gaps; written with gaps it is S O S. | |
| .-.. | L | dot dash dot dot | Often searched as ".-.. morse code". Letter L, as in LOVE and HELLO. | |
| .... | H | four dots | Letter H. Four dots in a row; five dots would be the digit 5. | |
| .--- | J | dot dash dash dash | Letter J. One dot followed by three dashes. | |
| -.-. | C | dash dot dash dot | Letter C. Alternating pattern, easy to confuse with K (-.-) or R (.-.). | |
| -.. | D | dash dot dot | Letter D. Reverse it and you get U. | |
| ..- | U | dot dot dash | Letter U. "Dot dot dash" is one of the most searched patterns. | |
| -.- | K | dash dot dash | Letter K. Also the prosign meaning "over, go ahead" in radio. | |
| ... | S | three dots | Letter S. Three dots; one more makes H. | |
| . | E | a single dot | Letter E, the shortest code of all. A single dash is T. | |
| ..-. | F | dot dot dash dot | Letter F. Often mistyped as ..- . (U E) when the gap is wrong. | |
| -- | M | dash dash | Letter M. Two dashes; three dashes is O. |
Reverse pairs Several letters are mirror images: A (.-) and N (-.), D (-..) and U (..-), B (-...) and V (...-), G (--.) and W (.--). If a decoded word looks wrong, check whether a letter was read backwards.
Numbers Every digit is exactly five symbols. 1 is .---- , 5 is ..... , 0 is ----- . A group of five dots or dashes is almost always a number, not a letter. See the numbers page.
Radio shorthand 73 means "best regards", 88 "love and kisses", CQ "calling anyone", K "go ahead". Our abbreviations page lists the common ones.
Manual method
How to decode Morse code without a tool
The decoder above does this in a millisecond, but knowing the manual process helps you catch mistakes in the code you were given, and it is the first step toward reading Morse by ear.
- Find the word gaps first
Look for the longest pauses, slashes, or wide spaces. They split the message into words. Decoding word by word keeps you from getting lost in a long string of symbols.
- Split each word into letters
Inside a word, a normal space (or a pause three times as long as a dot) separates letters. If there are no spaces at all, the message was written incorrectly and may have more than one valid reading; try the most common letters first.
- Look up each group
Match each group of one to five symbols against the Morse code chart. Groups of six symbols are punctuation. Anything longer is two letters that were run together.
- Read it out and sanity-check
Write the letters down, then read the sentence. A stray Q or X usually means a gap was misplaced. The Morse code reader shows each group next to its letter so you can spot the slip.
How to read the decoded output
The decoder prints letters in capitals, because International Morse has no lowercase. Words are separated by a normal space wherever your input had a slash, a vertical bar or three or more spaces. Digits and punctuation come through as themselves: .-.-.- is a period, ..--.. is a question mark, --..-- is a comma.
A question mark in the middle of a word is the decoder telling you that a group did not match any character. The usual causes are a missing space (two letters stuck together), an extra space (one letter split in two), or a symbol that is not a dot or a dash, such as a comma used as a separator. Fix the spacing and the word will resolve. Typographic characters are handled for you: bullets (•), middle dots (·), en and em dashes, underscores and minus signs are all read as dots or dashes.
If the result is readable but odd, remember that operators abbreviate heavily. - -. -..- decodes to TNX, which means "thanks"; ..- .-. is UR, "your". Context, not the decoder, tells you which.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How does the Morse code decoder work?
It splits your input into words at slashes or long spaces, then into letters at single spaces, and looks up each group of dots and dashes in the International Morse table. The result is shown as plain text in real time. Everything happens in your browser.
How do I decode Morse code with no spaces?
Morse written without gaps is ambiguous: "...---..." could be SOS, or EEETTTEEE, or several other readings. Add a space wherever you believe a letter ends, starting with the most common letters, until the words make sense. If the code came from a bracelet or tattoo, look for small gaps or spacer beads.
What does dot dot dash mean in Morse code?
Dot dot dash (..-) is the letter U. Dash dot dot (-..) is D, dash dot dash (-.-) is K, three dots (...) is S, four dots (....) is H, and a single dot (.) is E. The table above lists the patterns people search for most.
Can the decoder handle numbers and punctuation?
Yes. All ten digits (five symbols each) and the standard punctuation marks of International Morse are decoded, including period, comma, question mark, apostrophe, slash, parentheses, colon, hyphen, quotation marks and @.
Can I hear the Morse code I pasted?
Yes. Press Listen to play the input as beeps at the speed you set, or WAV to download the audio. Hearing the code is the best way to check whether the gaps you typed are in the right places.
Is the Morse code decoder free to use?
Completely free, with no limits and no sign-up. For a letter-by-letter view of the same message, open the Morse code reader.
Want to read Morse without a decoder?
Our learning guide teaches the alphabet by sound in small groups, the way radio operators learn it. Then test yourself with the quiz.