A code point is the abstract number assigned to a character (e.g. U+00E9 for 'é'). UTF-8 is a specific way of encoding that number as bytes — non-ASCII characters typically expand to 2-4 bytes.
Free Developer Tool
Unicode Converter
Convert text to Unicode code points, UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-32, percent-encoding, Base64, and decimal — or decode any of those formats back to text. Correctly handles emoji, CJK, and other multi-byte characters.
- ✔ 7 formats at once
- ✔ Handles emoji & CJK correctly
- ✔ Bidirectional (encode & decode)
- ✔ Nothing uploaded
- ✔ Free Forever
Every Unicode Encoding Format, One Tool
Developers regularly need to move text between encoding formats — debugging why an emoji displays incorrectly, decoding a percent-encoded URL parameter, working out what bytes a UTF-8 string actually occupies, or converting a Unicode escape sequence back to readable text.
This tool correctly handles the tricky cases that break naive implementations — multi-byte UTF-8 sequences, UTF-16 surrogate pairs for emoji and other astral-plane characters, and the difference between a character's Unicode code point and its encoded byte representation.
How It Works
1. Choose a Direction
Encode text to all formats, or decode one format back to text.
2. Enter Your Data
Type or paste text, or paste an encoded string with its format selected.
3. Convert
See every format simultaneously, or the decoded plain text.
4. Copy
Copy any individual format's output with one click.
Paste an encoded string and select its format — the tool auto-detects likely
separators and prefixes, so you don't need to strip anything first.
Result will appear here...
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Format Reference
What Each Format Means
| Format | Example (for "A") | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Unicode | U+0041 | The character's Unicode code point — a unique number assigned to every character in the Unicode standard. |
| UTF-8 | 41 | The character encoded as UTF-8 bytes. ASCII characters are 1 byte; most other characters use 2-4 bytes. |
| UTF-16 | 0041 | The character encoded as UTF-16 code units. Characters outside the Basic Multilingual Plane (like most emoji) use two 16-bit "surrogate pair" units. |
| UTF-32 | 00000041 | The character's code point padded to exactly 4 bytes (32 bits) — fixed-width, simple but memory-inefficient. |
| Percent | %41 | URL/percent-encoding of the UTF-8 bytes — used in URLs, query strings, and form submissions. |
| Base64 | QQ== | The UTF-8 bytes encoded as Base64 — used for embedding binary-safe text in JSON, email, and data URIs. |
| Decimal (code point) | 65 | The Unicode code point expressed as a decimal number instead of hex. |
| Decimal (UTF-8 byte) | 65 | Each UTF-8 byte expressed as a decimal number — differs from the code point for non-ASCII characters. |
Why do UTF-8 and code point decimals sometimes differ?
For ASCII characters (code points 0-127), the UTF-8 byte value and the decimal code point are identical. For any character above U+007F, UTF-8 splits the code point across 2-4 bytes, so the decimal byte sequence no longer matches the single code point number.
What are surrogate pairs?
UTF-16 can only directly represent code points up to U+FFFF. Characters beyond that — including most emoji (U+1F300 and above) — are represented as a pair of 16-bit "surrogate" code units that combine to form the full code point. This tool handles surrogate pairs correctly in both directions.
FAQsUnicode Converter
What is the difference between a Unicode code point and UTF-8 encoding?
Why does this tool handle emoji correctly?
Most emoji require UTF-16 surrogate pairs. This tool iterates by Unicode code point rather than raw character index, so multi-unit characters are never split incorrectly.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. All conversion happens entirely in your browser. Nothing is sent to any server.