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Morse Code

Encode and decode Morse code.

beats morsecode.world edge: Audio playback + adjustable WPM
text
morse
wpm 20
Guide

About Morse Code

Translate text to International Morse Code and back. Click play to hear the sequence at adjustable words-per-minute (5-30 WPM). Useful for amateur radio practice, scout activities, escape-room puzzles, and the rare moment you actually want to send Morse.

Why Morse still exists

Amateur radio operators use it because it punches through noise that voice cannot. A trained ear pulls Morse out of static at signal-to-noise ratios 20 dB worse than required for voice. For DX (long-distance) contacts in poor conditions, Morse is the difference between making the contact and giving up.

Outside that niche, Morse appears in escape rooms, scouting, retro computing, the occasional movie scene. The tool covers all of those.

What gets encoded

A . -      N - .      0 - - - - -
B - . . .  O - - -    1 . - - - -
C - . - .  P . - - .  2 . . - - -
...
SPACE: word gap (7 units silence)

The tool emits the dot-dash text and optionally plays it as audio at your chosen WPM and tone frequency.

Common workflows

Amateur radio practice. Type contacts you might make on a contest, listen at your target WPM. Brain-train your ear without on-air noise.

Escape-room puzzle design. Need a “three letters in Morse”? The tool shows them; you transcribe to a clue card.

Learning Morse. Start at 5 WPM. Increase as you can decode. The audio playback is faster than reading from a book chart.

Scouting badges. First aid, signal-corps badges. Generate the messages students need to copy.

Why local

Morse audio plays via Web Audio API directly in the browser. No upload, no server-side rendering, no latency. The tool works offline once loaded — useful at hamfests where Wi-Fi is spotty.

Frequently asked questions

Which Morse alphabet?
International Morse — the standard adopted by ITU and used in amateur radio worldwide. Includes A-Z, 0-9, and the most common punctuation. American Morse (older, US-only) is not supported.
How is timing handled?
Standard ratios — dot is 1 unit, dash is 3, intra-letter gap is 1, letter gap is 3, word gap is 7. WPM controls the unit duration via the standard PARIS calibration.
Can I play Morse audio?
Yes — at adjustable WPM, with a configurable tone frequency (700 Hz default, the conventional CW frequency). Useful for ear training.
How fast can practitioners go?
Casual operators send 13 WPM; experienced 25+ WPM. Top contest operators run 35-50 WPM. The tool maxes at 30 WPM (clear at that pace for browsers).
Does it support non-Latin?
Cyrillic and Greek Morse are supported via toggle. Arabic, Hebrew, and CJK Morse extensions exist but are rare; we focus on the languages amateur radio commonly uses.
SOS?
... --- ... — three dots, three dashes, three dots. The tool encodes it like any other text. The fact it is a distress call is convention, not the encoding.
How do I read and learn Morse code?
Reading: a dot is a short mark, a dash is three times longer; letters are separated by a short gap, words by a longer one. Learning: use the Koch method (start at full speed with two characters, add more as you master them) and the audio playback here at 5–13 WPM — training by sound is far more effective than memorizing a printed chart, because you learn each letter's rhythm rather than translating dots and dashes visually.
Who invented Morse code and is it still used?
It was developed in the 1830s–40s by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail for the electric telegraph; the modern International Morse is a later refinement. It's no longer required for marine or aviation, but amateur radio operators still use it (as "CW") because it cuts through noise that voice can't, and it remains handy for accessibility and emergency signalling — like flashing SOS with a light.

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Last updated: 2026-07-04