Text to Hex Converter
Convert text to hexadecimal representation or decode hex back to text with this free online hex converter. Widely used by programmers for color codes, memory addresses, debugging, and data encoding. Get instant conversions between text and hexadecimal format with support for ASCII and Unicode characters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Type or paste your text into the input field and click 'Convert'. The tool will convert each character to its hexadecimal representation using base-16 (0-9, A-F). For example, 'Hello' becomes '48656C6C6F'. Each character is represented by its hex value based on its ASCII or Unicode code point.
Yes! Paste your hexadecimal string into the input field and click 'Convert'. The tool automatically detects hex input and converts it back to readable text. Hex values can be entered with or without spaces, and both uppercase and lowercase letters (A-F or a-f) are accepted.
Hexadecimal (hex) is a base-16 number system using digits 0-9 and letters A-F. It's widely used in programming for color codes (#FF0000 for red), memory addresses, MAC addresses, cryptographic hashes, and representing binary data more compactly. Two hex digits can represent one byte (0-255), making it more compact than binary.
Hexadecimal provides a more compact representation of binary data than decimal. Since computers work in binary (base-2), hex (base-16) converts easily - each hex digit represents exactly 4 bits. This makes hex perfect for representing bytes (2 hex digits = 8 bits), memory addresses, and binary data in a human-readable format that's easier to work with than long strings of 1s and 0s.
Hex color codes use 6 hexadecimal digits to represent RGB colors: #RRGGBB. Each pair of digits (00-FF) represents the intensity of red, green, and blue from 0-255. For example, #FF0000 is pure red, #00FF00 is green, and #0000FF is blue. While this tool converts text to hex, the principle is the same - hex provides a compact way to represent values.
No, hexadecimal values are not case-sensitive. You can use uppercase (A-F) or lowercase (a-f) letters interchangeably. For example, 'FF' and 'ff' both represent the decimal value 255. This tool accepts both formats when decoding hex to text, and you can choose your preferred format when encoding.
Most programming languages use hex with a '0x' prefix (like 0xFF or 0x1A2B). In C, C++, Java, JavaScript, and Python, you can write hex literals directly in code for colors, bit masks, memory addresses, and byte arrays. For example, JavaScript uses hex for Unicode escapes (\x41 for 'A'), CSS uses hex for colors (#FF5733), and assembly language uses hex for memory addresses and opcodes.
Hexadecimal is much more compact than binary - one hex digit represents 4 bits, so a byte (8 bits) needs only 2 hex digits versus 8 binary digits. This makes hex ideal for displaying memory dumps, debugging, and working with raw data. For example, the binary '11111111' is simply 'FF' in hex. Hex is easier for humans to read and type while still maintaining a direct relationship with binary values.
Yes, but it requires understanding data representation. Negative integers use two's complement notation (where the high bit indicates sign), and you'll see values like 0xFFFFFFFF for -1 in 32-bit systems. Floating-point numbers (IEEE 754) can be represented in hex by showing their raw binary encoding. For example, the float 1.0 might be 0x3F800000 in 32-bit hex. This tool converts character representations; for number conversions, you'd need specialized calculators.
Each hex digit maps directly to 4 binary bits: 0=0000, 1=0001, 2=0010... F=1111. To convert hex to decimal, multiply each digit by 16 raised to its position (right to left, starting at 0). For example, 0x2F = (2 × 16¹) + (15 × 16⁰) = 32 + 15 = 47. To convert decimal to hex, repeatedly divide by 16 and collect remainders. This direct relationship with binary makes hex invaluable for computer science and programming.
