Hex to Text
Decode hexadecimal bytes back to plain text.
Accepts space-separated (48 65 6C), colon-separated (48:65:6C), dash-separated (48-65-6C), or continuous (48656C) hex input.
About This Tool
The Hex to Text Converter decodes hexadecimal-encoded data back into readable plain text. Hex (base-16) encoding is widely used in computing to represent binary data in a human-readable format. Each pair of hex digits corresponds to one byte of data. This tool accepts several common formats including space-separated, colon-separated, dash-separated, and continuous (no separator) hex strings.
All processing happens entirely in your browser β no data is sent to a server. The decoder uses UTF-8 interpretation, which correctly handles ASCII text and most Unicode characters. It will show an error for odd-length or non-hex input.
How to Use
- Paste your hexadecimal string into the Hex Input box.
- Use any separator format: spaces, colons, dashes, or no separator.
- Click Decode to convert to plain text.
- Review the result in the Decoded Text box.
- Click Copy to copy the decoded text to clipboard.
Use Cases
Developers use this tool when debugging network packets or inspecting raw binary protocol data captured in tools like Wireshark. Security analysts decode hex-encoded payloads found in malware samples or obfuscated scripts. Students learning about character encoding convert hex values from textbooks to see which characters they represent. Database administrators decode hex-stored string columns for quick inspection without writing SQL conversion functions.
FAQ
- What hex formats are accepted? β Space-separated (48 65 6C), colon-separated (48:65:6C), dash-separated (48-65-6C), and continuous (48656C) hex strings are all supported.
- Why am I getting an "odd length" error?β Hex bytes always come in pairs. If your string has an odd number of hex characters, one byte is incomplete. Check for a missing leading zero (e.g., write "07" not "7").
- Does it support non-ASCII characters? β Yes. The decoder uses UTF-8, so multi-byte sequences for Unicode characters (accents, CJK, emoji) are decoded correctly if the source bytes were UTF-8 encoded.
- How do I convert text to hex? β Use the companion Text to Hex Converter.