Unicode Converter: Text to Code Points, UTF-8 and UTF-16, and Back
Type any text, emoji included, to see each character's Unicode code point, UTF-8 bytes, UTF-16 code units and HTML reference, or paste code points, decimal values, UTF-8 bytes or UTF-16 units to get the text back, with the exact byte that breaks invalid UTF-8.
Every character has a Unicode code point, written U+ and hex: é is U+00E9 and ☕ is U+2615. UTF-8 stores a code point in 1 to 4 bytes, so é becomes C3 A9 and ☕ becomes E2 98 95. UTF-16 uses one 16-bit unit up to U+FFFF and a surrogate pair above it, so 😀 (U+1F600) is D83D DE00.
This converter does its work in your browser on the text you type. It does not show character names or decide how a font draws a character, and it treats each code point separately, so emoji built from several code points appear as several rows.
6 code points, 9 UTF-8 bytes, 6 UTF-16 units
| Char | Code point | UTF-8 | UTF-16 | HTML |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | U+0043 | 43 | 0043 | C |
| a | U+0061 | 61 | 0061 | a |
| f | U+0066 | 66 | 0066 | f |
| é | U+00E9 | C3 A9 | 00E9 | é |
| (space) | U+0020 | 20 | 0020 |   |
| ☕ | U+2615 | E2 98 95 | 2615 | ☕ |
UTF-8: 43 61 66 C3 A9 20 E2 98 95
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About the Unicode Converter
Unicode numbers its characters from U+0000 to U+10FFFF, and an encoding decides how those numbers become bytes. UTF-8, defined for the internet in RFC 3629, uses 1 byte for U+0000 to U+007F, which keeps plain ASCII text unchanged, 2 bytes up to U+07FF, 3 bytes up to U+FFFF and 4 bytes beyond. RFC 3629 also says there is only one valid way to encode each character and that U+D800 to U+DFFF must never be encoded. UTF-16, defined in RFC 2781, stores each code point below U+10000 as one 16-bit unit. For anything higher it subtracts 0x10000 and splits the remaining 20 bits across two units, a high surrogate from D800 to DBFF and a low one from DC00 to DFFF. That is why the grinning-face emoji (U+1F600) has a length of 2 in JavaScript or Java strings, which count UTF-16 code units. The converter reads your text one code point at a time and shows all of these forms in a table. Going back, it rejects overlong UTF-8, stray continuation bytes and unpaired surrogates, and names the byte or unit at fault.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a code point and UTF-8?+
The code point is the character's number in Unicode, such as U+00E9 for é. UTF-8 is one way of storing that number as bytes: U+00E9 becomes the two bytes C3 A9. The same character is 00E9 in UTF-16 and é as an HTML reference, but its code point never changes.
Why does an emoji take 4 bytes?+
Many emoji sit above U+FFFF, though some, such as ☕ (U+2615), do not, and RFC 3629 needs 4 bytes for anything from U+10000 up. 😀 is U+1F600, which is F0 9F 98 80 in UTF-8 and the surrogate pair D83D DE00 in UTF-16. Some emoji are several code points joined together, and the table shows each one on its own row.
Why is my UTF-8 rejected?+
The decoder follows RFC 3629 strictly. Common causes: a byte from 80 to BF with no lead byte before it, a sequence cut off at the end, bytes C0, C1 or F5 to FF, which never appear in UTF-8, an overlong form such as C0 80 for U+0000, or ED A0 80, which would encode the surrogate U+D800. The error names the byte where the bad sequence starts.
How do I write a character as an HTML entity?+
Use the numeric reference in the HTML column: &#x followed by the code point in hex and a semicolon, so ☕ is ☕. A decimal reference works too: ☕ is the same character, since hex 2615 equals 9,749 in decimal.
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