What is Morse Code?
Morse code is a character encoding system that represents letters, numbers, and punctuation as sequences of short signals (dots) and long signals (dashes). Originally developed for use with the electrical telegraph in the early 1840s, it became one of the first methods for long-distance communication.
Each character is represented by a unique combination of dots (.) and dashes (-). For example, the letter “A” is .- and the letter “E” is simply .. More frequently used letters in English tend to have shorter codes.
History of Morse Code
Morse code was developed by Samuel F.B. Morse and his assistant Alfred Vail in the 1830s and 1840s. The first public demonstration of the telegraph was in 1844 with the famous message “What hath God wrought” sent from Washington, D.C. to Baltimore.
The original Morse code, known as “American Morse Code,” used variable-length spaces within characters. In 1851, a conference in Europe standardized a revised version known as “International Morse Code” (also called Continental Morse Code), which is the version universally used today and the version implemented in this tool.
Morse code played a critical role in maritime communication for over a century. The famous SOS distress signal (... --- ...) was adopted internationally in 1906. Commercial maritime Morse code use was gradually phased out by the 1990s, replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS).
International Morse Code Alphabet
The table below shows the complete International Morse Code alphabet, including all 26 letters and 10 numerals:
| Character | Morse Code | Character | Morse Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | .- | N | -. |
| B | -... | O | --- |
| C | -.-. | P | .--. |
| D | -.. | Q | --.- |
| E | . | R | .-. |
| F | ..-. | S | ... |
| G | --. | T | - |
| H | .... | U | ..- |
| I | .. | V | ...- |
| J | .--- | W | .-- |
| K | -.- | X | -..- |
| L | .-.. | Y | -.-- |
| M | -- | Z | --.. |
| 0 | ----- | 5 | ..... |
| 1 | .---- | 6 | -.... |
| 2 | ..--- | 7 | --... |
| 3 | ...-- | 8 | ---.. |
| 4 | ....- | 9 | ----. |
How to Read and Write Morse Code
Dots and Dashes
A dot (.) is a short signal and a dash (-) is a long signal, three times the length of a dot.
Letter Spacing
The space between symbols within a letter is one dot length. The space between letters is three dot lengths.
Word Spacing
The space between words is seven dot lengths. In written form, this is represented by a forward slash (/).
Frequency of Use
Common letters like E (.) and T (-) have the shortest codes, while rarer letters like Q (--.-) have longer codes.
SOS Distress Signal
SOS (... --- ...) is the universal distress signal. It was chosen for its simplicity, not as an acronym.
Learning Tips
Practice with common words first. Use audio playback to train your ear. The rhythm of dots and dashes helps with memorization.
Frequently Asked Questions
Morse code is a method of encoding text characters using sequences of dots (.) and dashes (-). Each letter, number, and some punctuation marks have a unique combination. It was developed in the 1830s and 1840s by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail for use with the electric telegraph.
In written Morse code, individual letters are separated by a single space. Words are separated by a forward slash (/) with spaces on each side, written as ' / '. When transmitted as sound, a short pause separates letters and a longer pause separates words.
Yes. While it is no longer used for commercial maritime communication (which stopped in 1999), Morse code is still used by amateur radio operators, in aviation navigation aids (VOR/NDB), for accessibility communication, and in emergency signaling (SOS).
SOS in Morse code is: ... --- ... (three dots, three dashes, three dots). It was chosen as a distress signal because it is simple to transmit and easy to recognize, not because it stands for any particular phrase.
Yes. All conversion happens entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your text is never sent to any server, stored, or logged. Everything is 100% client-side.
This tool supports the full A-Z alphabet, digits 0-9, and common punctuation marks including period, comma, question mark, exclamation point, and more. Characters not in the Morse code standard are silently skipped during conversion.
The audio playback uses the Web Audio API built into your browser. A dot plays as a short beep (100ms) and a dash as a longer beep (300ms). There is a 100ms gap between symbols within a letter, a 300ms gap between letters, and a 700ms gap between words.