About the Text to Octal Converter
This converter writes text as octal byte values. The word Hello becomes 110 145 154 154 157, with each group being one byte in base 8. Type or paste your text and read the octal on the right, with a space, a comma, a new line or nothing between the bytes. Padding makes every byte three digits long, so 56 appears as 056 and the output is easy to read back. Text is encoded as UTF-8, so accented letters and emoji become two to four bytes. The conversion is done in your browser and nothing is uploaded.
Updated October 2026
How to use the Text to Octal Converter
- 1Type or paste your text into the left box.
- 2Choose what to put between the bytes.
- 3Choose whether to always show three digits.
- 4Read the octal bytes on the right.
- 5Copy the result or download it.
What octal bytes are for
Octal appears in Unix tools that print raw bytes, in escape sequences like \110 inside strings, and in exercises that teach how text is stored. If you need to place a character in a shell string, or want to see exactly which bytes a word uses, this tool lists them.
Because each octal digit is three bits, three digits cover a full byte up to 377, so the output has a regular shape.
Example
The text Hello, World! encodes as 110 145 154 154 157 054 040 127 157 162 154 144 041. The comma is 054, the space is 040 and the exclamation mark is 041. Capital letters sit between 101 and 132 and small letters between 141 and 172.
- A → 101
- a → 141
- 0 → 060
- space → 040
Tips
Choose a space between bytes if you will decode the text later, since that is the format the decoder expects. Use the new-line option for a list of one byte per line. For other number systems, try the Text to ASCII Converter, which also offers decimal, hex and binary.
Using it on phone and computer
Type or paste your text and the octal bytes appear straight away. On a phone, use the selectors to pick the separator, then tap Copy to move the result to another app. On a computer you can also download the bytes as a text file. Even long paragraphs convert in an instant.
Accuracy and privacy
The bytes are those of the UTF-8 encoding, which is what most web pages, files and programs use for text. Plain English matches the old ASCII values exactly. Nothing you type is uploaded or stored, and closing the tab removes it.
Why three digits
A byte can be as large as 377 in octal. Always showing three digits means a comma is written as 054 and not 54, so there is never a doubt about where one byte ends and the next begins, even when you remove the separators. To go back to text use the Octal to Text Converter, and the Decimal to Octal Converter handles plain numbers.
Features
- Text to octal bytes
- UTF-8 aware for accents and emoji
- Four choices of separator
- Optional three-digit padding
- Counts the bytes
- Private: nothing is uploaded
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert text to octal?
Type the text. Each character is turned into its byte value and written in base 8. H is 110, e is 145 and l is 154, so Hello is 110 145 154 154 157.
Why do some characters give several octal numbers?
Characters beyond plain English need more than one byte in UTF-8. The letter e with an acute accent is two bytes, 303 251, and a smiling emoji is four. The note reports the number of bytes, not characters.
What does padding to three digits do?
It writes small values with leading zeros, so a comma is 054 instead of 54. Every byte then has the same length, which makes the output tidy and easy to decode.
How do I convert octal back to text?
Use the Octal to Text Converter on this site. Paste the groups and the words reappear.
Is this the same as ASCII octal?
For English letters, digits and symbols, yes, since UTF-8 uses the ASCII value for them. Beyond that, UTF-8 adds bytes while ASCII stops at 127.
Is my text uploaded?
No. The text is converted in your browser and does not leave your device.