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Paste input and click Encode or Decode// convert text to hex and back in one click
Convert plain text to hexadecimal and decode hex strings back to readable text instantly. Free, browser-based hex tool — no sign-up required.
Ready to convert
Paste input and click Encode or DecodeSelect Encode to convert text to hex, or Decode to reverse hex back to text.
Type or paste plain text (encode) or a hex string like 48 65 6C 6C 6F (decode).
Hit Encode/Decode, then copy your output with one click.
Hexadecimal (base-16) encodes each byte as two hex digits (0–9, A–F). This tool converts any plain text string into its per-byte hex representation, and decodes hex strings back into human-readable text. Useful for debugging, encoding binary data, and low-level protocol work.
Hex encoding converts each byte of data into a two-character hexadecimal string using digits 0–9 and letters A–F. For example, the letter A has ASCII value 65, which is 41 in hex.
Hex is widely used when you need a compact, unambiguous representation of binary data — in debugging, network protocols, cryptography, and embedded source code. It is also human-readable enough to spot individual bytes easily.
Space (e.g. 48 65 6C) is the most readable for humans. Comma (e.g. 0x48,0x65 variants) is common in C arrays. None produces a compact string like 48656C typical in protocols and file inspectors.
Yes. The decoder converts hex bytes as raw bytes. For multi-byte UTF-8 characters like emoji, the encoder outputs multiple hex pairs per character — one pair per byte — which is the correct representation at the byte level.
Absolutely. The decoder strips all non-hex characters (spaces, commas, 0x prefixes, colons) before processing, so you can paste hex strings in virtually any common format.
No. All conversion happens entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is transmitted or stored — your input stays private on your device.
A Hex Encoder is a tool that converts human-readable text — or any raw bytes — into a hexadecimal (base-16) string. A Hex Decoder reverses the process, reconstructing the original text from its hex representation. Together they form an essential utility for developers, security researchers, and anyone working close to the metal with binary data.
Our free online hex tool lets you encode and decode instantly in the browser, with zero server round-trips, no file uploads, and no account required.
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Every character in plain text has a numeric value defined by a character encoding standard like ASCII or UTF-8. Hexadecimal encoding simply represents each byte of that numeric value as two hex digits — characters drawn from 0–9 and A–F.
For example, the string Hello in ASCII/UTF-8 encodes to:
H → decimal 72 → hex 48e → decimal 101 → hex 65l → decimal 108 → hex 6Cl → decimal 108 → hex 6Co → decimal 111 → hex 6FFull string: 48 65 6C 6C 6F. Decoding simply reverses each step — read two hex digits, convert to decimal, look up the corresponding character.
Hex encoding is used everywhere in computing. Here are the most common scenarios:
\x48\x65\x6C\x6C\x6F in Python or C.#c8f135 are three-byte hex values encoding red, green, and blue channels.%XX where XX is the hex byte, e.g. a space becomes %20.FF D8 FF for JPEG) identify file types and are expressed in hex.Functionally, uppercase (4F) and lowercase (4f) hex are identical — both represent the same byte value. The convention varies by context:
bytes.hex() returns lowercase by default, as does OpenSSL.Our tool lets you switch instantly between both styles to match whatever format your downstream system expects.
When encoding multiple bytes, you have three common delimiter options:
48 65 6C 6C 6F) — the most readable format for humans, used heavily in hex dump output and documentation.48, 65, 6C, 6C, 6F) — mirrors C/C++ byte array initializers, useful for embedding directly in code.48656C6C6F) — the compact format expected by most cryptographic tools, hash comparisons, and protocol fields.When decoding, our tool automatically strips spaces, commas, 0x prefixes, and colons — so you can paste hex from virtually any source without cleaning it up first.
Both hex and Base64 are ways to represent binary data as printable text, but they serve slightly different purposes:
If you need to inspect or manipulate individual bytes, hex is usually the right tool. If you need to embed binary data inside JSON or send it over a channel that only accepts ASCII safely, Base64 is typically preferred.
A few hex values come up repeatedly in development work:
00 — null byte, used as string terminators in C and many binary protocols0A — newline (LF, Unix line ending)0D 0A — carriage return + newline (CRLF, Windows line ending)20 — space characterFF — maximum byte value, used as fill bytes and in BOM sequencesEF BB BF — UTF-8 byte order mark (BOM)