Text to Binary Converter

Q: How do I express the letter “a” in binary code?

The letter “a” is expressed in binary code as 01100001 . Such a binary code assumes you are using the UTF-8 Unicode encoding, the most common one across the web. For other encodings, use our text-to-binary converter.

Q: How do I express 5 in binary?

5 in binary is 101 . If you need 8 bits (1 byte), write it as 00000101 . If you treat it as the string “5” (a character of text), you can encode it using UTF-8 . In that case, its byte’s numerical value is 53 , whose binary equivalent is 00110101 .

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Luis is a mechanical engineer who works at Omni Calculator as a content creator and researcher specializing in math and physics calculators with a focus on thermodynamics and classical mechanics. With a strong foundation in mechanical engineering, Luis is passionate about creating tools that simplify complex concepts and improve everyday life. Outside of work, Luis likes weightlifting and applying his engineering knowledge to optimize the thermal conditions of his home, all while caring for four beloved cats. See full profile

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This text-to-binary converter allows you to convert numbers, letters, symbols, and words (not just in English) to binary code, providing a deeper understanding of how computers store text.

You can think of this tool as an extension of our more basic ASCII to binary converter, allowing you to convert any string to binary, not just ASCII characters. We have even more tools in our arsenal, such as our binary to text converter, which allows you to convert in the opposite direction.

How to use this binary to text converter

Type or paste text in the “Enter the text...” box. The calculator can account for spaces, and you can enter any character so that you can see it as an ASCII and non-ASCII to binary converter.
Pick a character encoding:
- UTF‑8 (recommended; supports emojis and all languages);
- UTF‑16 (adds a byte-order mark (BOM) at the start);
- UTF‑16 LE/BE (no BOM; fixed byte order); or
- Windows-1252 (supports ASCII and extended ASCII).
Define your separator.
Read the result under “Binary conversion”.

FAQs

How do I convert text to binary?

To convert text (in English or non-English) to binary:

Choose an encoding. Let’s use UTF-8, the most widely used encoding.
Encode each character to UTF-8 byte(s) (‘A’ → [65], ‘ñ’ → [195, 177]).
Convert each byte to binary (65 → 1000001).
Pad each byte to 8 bits: 65 → 01000001.
If there are multiple bytes, write their 8-bit binaries in order (195 177 → 11000011 10110001).

How do I express the letter “a” in binary code?

The letter “a” is expressed in binary code as 01100001. Such a binary code assumes you are using the UTF-8 Unicode encoding, the most common one across the web. For other encodings, use our text-to-binary converter.

How do I convert a number to binary?

The conversion of a number to binary will depend on what kind of number you are talking about:

Decimal integers (≥ 0): To convert a decimal integer to binary, repeatedly divide by 2, writing down each remainder (0 or 1). Stop when the quotient becomes 0. Read the remainders from last to first; that string is the binary form.
Numbers represented as text (e.g., “12”): You can treat it in two valid ways:
- Parse it as a number (base 10 unless stated): “12” → 12 → 1100 (or 8-bit 00001100).
- Treat it as literal text (encode): “12” is two characters; UTF-8 bytes are [49, 50], so binary is 00110001 00110010.

How do I express 5 in binary?

5 in binary is 101. If you need 8 bits (1 byte), write it as 00000101.

If you treat it as the string “5” (a character of text), you can encode it using UTF-8. In that case, its byte’s numerical value is 53, whose binary equivalent is 00110101.