# Morse Code Translator Translate text to and from International Morse Code (ITU-R M.1677) with live audio playback. Auto-detects direction, adjustable WPM speed (PARIS standard) and tone frequency. > Canonical page: https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/morse-code-translator - **Category:** Text Processing - **Keywords:** morse code, morse translator, morse encoder, morse decoder, dit dah, telegraph, sos, audio morse ## Overview Translate text to and from **International Morse Code** (ITU-R M.1677) — with adjustable-speed **audio playback** of the Morse signal. **Two-way translation:** - **Encode** — text → Morse (e.g. `SOS` → `... --- ...`). - **Decode** — Morse → text (e.g. `... --- ...` → `SOS`). - **Auto-detect** — figures out the direction from your input: if it's mostly dots, dashes and slashes, it decodes; otherwise it encodes. **Audio playback:** - Click **Play** to hear the Morse signal synthesized live with the Web Audio API. - **Speed** is measured in **WPM** (words per minute) using the international **PARIS** standard: `dit = 1200 / WPM` milliseconds, `dah = 3 × dit`, with standard inter-element / inter-letter / inter-word gaps. - **Tone frequency** sets the pitch of the beep (default 600 Hz, the classic Morse practice tone). - A blinking dot (●) flashes in sync with each dit/dah so you can follow the rhythm visually. **Formatting conventions:** - Characters are separated by **one space**; words are separated by ` / ` (or 3+ spaces). - Letters A–Z, digits 0–9, and common punctuation (`.`, `,`, `?`, `!`, `/`, `@`, etc.) are supported. - Characters without a Morse equivalent (e.g. CJK, emoji) are marked `[char]` so nothing is lost silently. **How this differs from the Morse Code Oscillator visualization:** that one is a full signal-generation workshop (timing diagrams, waveform, spectrum). This tool focuses on **everyday translation + a quick listen** — paste text, get Morse, hear it. ## Inputs - **Text** (textarea): Type text to encode (SOS) OR paste Morse (... --- ...) to decode... - **Mode** (select) - **Speed (WPM)** (number) - **Tone frequency (Hz)** (number) ## When to use - When you need to encode English text, numbers, and common punctuation into standard International Morse Code. - When you have a sequence of dots and dashes that you need to decode back into readable text. - When you want to practice listening to Morse code at specific speeds and tone frequencies using live audio playback. ## How it works - Input your text or Morse code into the text area; the tool automatically detects whether to encode or decode based on the input characters. - Adjust translation settings such as the mode, playback speed in Words Per Minute (WPM), and tone frequency in Hertz. - View the translated output instantly, with characters separated by single spaces and words separated by slashes. - Click the play button to listen to the synthesized audio signal while watching the visual indicator flash in sync with the dits and dahs. ## Use cases - Encoding emergency messages or distress signals like SOS into standard Morse code for reference. - Decoding telegraphic messages or Morse code sequences copied from radio transmissions. - Practicing Morse code audio recognition by adjusting the WPM speed and tone pitch to match training requirements. ## Frequently asked questions ### How does the auto-detect mode decide whether to encode or decode? It analyzes the input text. If the input consists primarily of dots, dashes, spaces, and slashes, the tool decodes it to text; otherwise, it encodes the text to Morse code. ### What standard does the translator use for speed calculation? It uses the international PARIS standard, where the duration of a dit is calculated as 1200 divided by the WPM speed, and a dah is three times the duration of a dit. ### How are letters and words separated in the Morse code output? Individual characters are separated by a single space, while words are separated by a forward slash surrounded by spaces ( / ). ### What happens to characters that do not have a Morse code equivalent? Unsupported characters, such as CJK characters or emojis, are output as the literal character wrapped in brackets, like [char], to prevent silent data loss. ### Can I customize the pitch of the audio playback? Yes, you can adjust the tone frequency setting between 200 Hz and 1200 Hz to change the pitch of the synthesized audio beep. ## Related tools - [Extended Text Base Codecs (Base65536 + netstring)](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/extended-text-base-codecs): Encode and decode with less-common text codecs: Base65536 (binary → dense Unicode) and netstring (self-delimiting framing). Base85 is intentionally not rebuilt (already covered). - [Leet Speak Converter](https://elysiatools.com/en/tools/leet-speak-converter): Convert text to and from leet speak (1337). 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