Sign up free

Unicode Converter – Text to Code Points and Back

Turn text into \u escapes, U+ code points or UTF-8 bytes, and decode any of them back to text.

About Unicode Converter

A Unicode converter helps when text arrives as codes instead of characters: a JSON response full of \u4e2d\u6587, a Java properties file, a URL or log with %E4%B8%AD in it, or an emoji you need to write into source code. Paste the codes and the converter works out the format on its own, whether they're \u escapes, &# codes, U+ code points or UTF-8 bytes.

Encoding goes the other way. You can write text as \uXXXX escapes, where emoji and other characters above U+FFFF become surrogate pairs or \u{…}, as decimal or hex HTML codes, as U+ code points, as UTF-8 bytes in hex or %XX form, or as UTF-16. A table lists every character with its code point and UTF-8 bytes, which makes a stray zero-width space or a look-alike letter easy to find. It all runs in your browser.

How to use Unicode Converter

  1. 1
    Paste text or codes

    Plain text to encode, or escapes, codes or bytes to decode.

  2. 2
    Pick the output format

    Choose \uXXXX, decimal or hex HTML codes, U+ code points, UTF-8 bytes or UTF-16.

  3. 3
    Check the table

    Each character is listed with its code point and UTF-8 bytes.

  4. 4
    Copy the result

    Copy the converted text or codes.

Why use Cubfile for this

  • Format detected for you

    Paste \u escapes, &# codes, U+ points or UTF-8 bytes and they're decoded without choosing a mode.

  • Emoji handled properly

    Characters above U+FFFF become surrogate pairs or \u{…}, so nothing is lost on the way back.

  • UTF-8 and UTF-16 bytes

    See UTF-8 bytes as hex or as %XX, the form used in URLs.

  • Character table

    Code point and UTF-8 bytes for every character in the text.

FAQ

Unicode Converter: questions and answers

How do I convert \u escapes to readable text?
Paste the string, for example \u4f60\u597d, and it decodes to 你好. The format is detected automatically, so &#…; codes and U+ code points work the same way. Named HTML entities such as © or   are decoded by the HTML Entity Encoder/Decoder.
Why is one emoji written as two \u codes?
A \uXXXX escape holds four hex digits, enough for U+0000 to U+FFFF. Emoji sit above that range, so JSON and JavaScript write them as a surrogate pair, such as \uD83D\uDE00 for 😀. Newer JavaScript also accepts \u{1F600}.
What's the difference between a code point and UTF-8 bytes?
The code point is the character's number in Unicode, like U+4E2D for 中. UTF-8 is how that number is stored, here as three bytes, E4 B8 AD, which is also what %E4%B8%AD in a URL means. For the same text as GBK or UTF-16 bytes, use the Text to Hex Converter.
How do I find the Unicode code point of a character?
Paste the character and read the table. Each one is listed with its U+ code point and its UTF-8 bytes, including invisible characters you can't see on screen.
Is my text uploaded when I use the Unicode converter?
No. The conversion runs in your browser, keeps working offline once the page is open, and has no daily limit.
Share Unicode Converter with a friendIt runs in any browser, and they can try it without signing up.

Related tools

HASH Hash GeneratorGet MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512 and SM3 hashes of text in one go.
TIME Unix Timestamp ConverterConvert Unix timestamps to dates and back, in your time zone and UTC.
AES AES Encrypt and DecryptEncrypt or decrypt text with AES in GCM, CBC or CTR mode.
&;HTML HTML Entity Encoder/DecoderEscape text into HTML entities, or turn entities back into text.
JWT JWT DecoderDecode a JSON Web Token’s header and payload and check its expiry and signature.
01BIN Number Base ConverterConvert numbers between binary, octal, decimal, hex and any base up to 36.
BASE Base32 and Base58 EncoderEncode and decode Base32, Base58, Base85 and Base16.
0xHEX Text to Hex ConverterTurn text into hexadecimal bytes in UTF-8, GBK or UTF-16, and back.