About the Words to Numbers Converter
Numbers are often written out in words: on cheques, in contracts, in transcripts and in surveys. Reading them is easy for people, but computers and spreadsheets need digits. This converter takes numbers written in English words and gives you the digits. It understands hyphens and the word and, so twenty-one and one hundred and five both work, scales up to trillions, negative numbers with minus or negative, decimals written with point and ordinals such as fifth. Enter one number per line and get a list of results, which you can copy. Misspelled words are named in the error so you can fix them.
Updated October 2026
How to use the Words to Numbers Converter
- 1Type or paste your numbers in words, one per line.
- 2Read the digits next to each line.
- 3Use words such as hundred, thousand, million, billion and trillion.
- 4Write decimals with the word point, followed by single digits.
- 5Copy the results.
Examples
- twenty-one gives 21.
- one hundred and five gives 105.
- three thousand two hundred forty-six gives 3,246.
- minus two million gives −2,000,000.
- three point one four gives 3.14.
Where this helps
Clean-up of survey answers, accounting text, legal documents with amounts spelled out, transcripts of speech and old data entries. If the document gives both the figures and the words, converting the words is a handy cross-check that the digits are right. For the opposite direction, use the Number to Words tool, which writes amounts out in full.
Spoken numbers have some quirks that the converter handles for you. People say twelve hundred for 1,200, which is not accepted because it mixes scales; write one thousand two hundred instead. Phone numbers and years are often read digit by digit or in pairs, such as nineteen ninety nine, which is also not a plain count. For these, convert the pairs separately: nineteen is 19 and ninety nine is 99, and join them yourself.
Tips for accuracy
Check each result by eye when the input comes from speech recognition, since similar-sounding words can slip in. Hyphens, commas and capital letters are fine. Do not mix digits and words in the same line; convert them one at a time. For fractions like three quarters, use the Decimal to Fraction Converter instead.
Related tools
The Number to Words tool and the Ordinal Number Converter go the other way, the Roman Numeral Converter handles Roman numerals, the Number Base Converter changes between bases and the Text Extractor pulls numbers out of larger texts.
Features
- Whole numbers up to trillions
- Understands and, hyphens and commas
- Minus and negative
- Decimals with point
- Ordinals such as fifth and twenty-first
- Lists of up to 200 lines
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert words to numbers?
Type the number in words, for example three thousand two hundred forty-six, and the tool shows 3,246. It adds up the pieces, multiplying by hundred, thousand, million and so on as needed.
Does it understand the word and?
Yes. The word and, as in one hundred and five, is ignored in the sum, as in British English. American style without and works equally well.
How do I write decimals?
Say the whole part, then point, then the digits one by one, for example three point one four for 3.14. After point only single digit words such as one, two or oh are accepted.
Can it read ordinals like fifth or twenty-first?
Yes. Ordinal words are treated as the matching number, so fifth gives 5 and twenty-first gives 21. If you need the ordinal in digits, such as 21st, use the Ordinal Number Converter.
What is the largest number it understands?
Numbers up to the trillions, as long as the result stays exact in a computer, which is about 9 quadrillion. Words for larger scales such as quadrillion are not recognised.
Why do I get an error for a word I typed?
The tool needs standard English spelling, for example forty rather than fourty (though that common variant is accepted) and fifteen rather than fiveteen. The error names the part it could not read.