Text to Decimal Converter

What the text to decimal converter does

This turns text into the plain code number of each character, written in ordinary decimal. Type your words in, press the button, and copy out the numbers.

Of all the ways to write text as numbers, this is the most readable, because the decimal code is the character's number in the form you already count in, with no base conversion to untangle.

How to use it

1. Enter your text. Type a letter, a word, or a sentence, for example Cat.
2. Press Convert. The decimal codes appear in the output box.
3. Click the result to copy it. Tap the output to send it to your clipboard.

Press Reset to clear both boxes.

The decimal code is the ASCII number

Every character a computer handles has a number behind it, fixed by the ASCII standard for the basic English set. The number this tool gives you is that code directly: capital A is 65, lowercase a is 97, the digit 0 is 48, and a space is 32. There is no extra step. When people talk about a character's ASCII value, this plain decimal number is exactly what they mean, which is why this form is the easiest of the bunch to read and to look up.

One code per character

The output is a list of numbers, one for each character, separated by spaces. The spacing keeps each code separate, since the codes run from one to three digits and you need to see where one ends and the next starts. So a three-letter word gives three numbers, a space in your text gives the number 32, and the order of the numbers follows the order of your characters exactly.

A worked example with real letters

Take the word Cat, three characters.

• C has the code 67.
• a has the code 97.
• t has the code 116.

So Cat becomes 67 97 116. Because these are already decimal, there is nothing to convert, you are simply reading each character's ASCII number straight off.

A flat gap of thirty-two between cases

Here is a tidy pattern the decimal codes make plain. A capital letter and its lowercase form always sit exactly 32 apart. Capital A is 65 and lowercase a is 97, and 97 minus 65 is 32. The same holds for every letter: capital C is 67, lowercase c is 99. So to shift a letter from upper to lower case you just add 32, and to go back you subtract it. The codes were laid out on purpose to make that gap a clean, constant number.

Where these numbers turn up

Decimal character codes are not only for study. On the web, you can write a character in HTML by its decimal code using a numeric character reference: A displays as A, and © displays as the copyright sign. They are handy for symbols that are awkward to type directly. The same numbers fill the familiar ASCII table you will find in any programming reference, and they show up wherever a program needs to talk about characters as plain values.

Questions people ask

How is text converted to decimal?

Each character is replaced by its numeric code, the number ASCII assigns it. Since that code is already a decimal number, it is simply listed as is, one code per character.

Is the decimal code the same as the ASCII value?

Yes. For the basic English set, a character's decimal code is its ASCII value, which is why this is the most direct way to read a character as a number.

What is the letter A in decimal?

Capital A is 65 and lowercase a is 97. The two always differ by 32, the fixed gap between any letter's upper and lower case.

What is A in HTML?

It is a numeric character reference, a way to write a character by its decimal code. A shows up as the letter A on the page.

References

1. Cerf, V. ASCII format for Network Interchange. RFC 20, Internet Engineering Task Force. https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc20