Text Studio · Windows 10 and 11
Translate text to Morse code and back
Type a message in Text Studio and the Convert panel writes it in Morse code as you type: dots and dashes, a space between letters, a slash between words. Paste Morse code instead and it reads it back as text. Play the code sends it as beeps with a light that flashes in time, at the speed and pitch you choose.
How to translate Morse code
- 1
Open the translator
In Text Studio, press Convert. The panel opens on Morse code.
- 2
Type or paste
Type your message on the page, or select part of a longer text. The Morse code appears in the panel at once. Paste dots and dashes instead and the panel shows Morse code to text.
- 3
Listen to it
Press Play the code. Set Speed and Tone first if you like, and leave Flash a light on to see each signal and the letter being sent.
- 4
Use the result
Press Copy, or Put in place to replace your text with the translation. Ctrl Z takes it back.
How Morse code is written here
Text Studio uses International Morse Code: the 26 letters, the digits 0 to 9, the common punctuation marks (. , ? ' ! / ( ) & : ; = + - _ " $ @) and the accented letters À, Ä, Ç, È, É, Ñ, Ö and Ü. Other accented letters are sent as their plain letter, so ê becomes E. Characters with no code at all, such as € or #, are left out and listed under the result.
- Letters are separated by one space: SOS is
... --- .... - Words are separated by a slash: hi there is
.... .. / - .... . .-. .. - Line breaks stay line breaks.
Reading works the same way, and also accepts a bar or two spaces between words, and · or • for dots. A group of dots and dashes that is not a character shows as �, with a count, so a typing slip is easy to find. Morse code has no capital letters, so the text comes back in capitals.
Speed, timing and tone
Morse speed is counted in words per minute, measured with the word PARIS: at 20 words a minute, PARIS can be sent 20 times in a minute. Everything is timed from the length of one dot:
| Signal or gap | Length |
|---|---|
| Dot | 1 unit |
| Dash | 3 units |
| Gap inside a letter | 1 unit |
| Gap between letters | 3 units |
| Gap between words | 7 units |
One unit lasts 1.2 seconds divided by the speed, so at the panel's starting speed of 18 words a minute a dot is about 67 milliseconds. Beginners often learn at 5 to 10 words a minute; experienced operators send 20 to 30 and more. The tone can be set from 300 to 1000 Hz (600 Hz to start), and each beep fades in and out over a few milliseconds so it does not click.
Learning and using it
The panel keeps The Morse alphabet under the player: open it for a table of every letter and digit. Two habits help when learning:
- Learn by sound, not by sight. Play short words at a speed where each letter sounds like one rhythm rather than separate dots to count.
- Watch the light. With Flash a light on, a circle lights up with each signal and shows the letter being sent.
SOS is a good first test. In a real distress call it is sent as one unbroken run of nine signals, with no gaps between the letters; written as text, as here, it is the three letters S, O and S.
Questions, answered
Can it decode Morse code I paste?
Yes. When the text on the page, or the part you select, is only dots, dashes, spaces and slashes, the panel reads it as Morse and shows the text.
Can I save the sound?
No, Text Studio plays it but does not save it as an audio file. To keep it, copy the code and play it again any time.
Does it work offline?
Yes. The translation and the sound are made on your PC.
Which punctuation does it know?
Full stop, comma, question mark, apostrophe, exclamation mark, slash, both brackets, &, colon, semicolon, =, +, hyphen, underscore, quotation mark, $ and @.
How long a text can it translate?
Up to 200,000 characters at a time. For longer texts, select a part and translate that.
Morse code translator, and 16 more apps.
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