Online Tool Store
Char to ASCII
Convert any character to its ASCII decimal, hex, and Unicode code point, and convert code points back to characters, with encoding notes.
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server.
Data Converters
Char to ASCII
Frontend preview — no upload or external service.
Code points
A → U+0041, decimal 65, one UTF-8 byte. € → U+20AC, three UTF-8 bytes. 😀 → U+1F600, four UTF-8 bytes and two UTF-16 units.
How the Char to ASCII works
- Paste the characters you want to inspect.
- Choose whether you need decimal, hex, or both.
- Read the byte counts too — that is what a fixed-width database column is actually measuring.
The method
A code point identifies a character; an encoding decides how many bytes represent it. ASCII code points and UTF-8 bytes coincide only below 128.
code points 0-127 = 1 byte, 128-2047 = 2, 2048-65535 = 3, above = 4 in UTF-8
This is why a VARCHAR(10) holding emoji can reject input that looks like three characters — it is counting bytes, not code points.
FAQ
Why do emoji count as two characters in some systems?
Because those systems count UTF-16 code units. Characters above U+FFFF need a surrogate pair — two units — so JavaScript's string length reports 2 for a single emoji.
Is ASCII the same as Unicode?
ASCII covers code points 0 to 127 and Unicode extends far beyond it while keeping those first 128 identical. That backward compatibility is why plain English text is valid in both.
Why does my text have invisible characters?
Zero-width joiners, non-breaking spaces and directional marks are all real code points with no visible glyph. Converting to code points is the reliable way to find them.
How we compare
| Feature | Online Tool Store | A spreadsheet | A desktop converter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shows UTF-8 byte counts | ✓ | Manual | ✓ |
| Reveals invisible characters | ✓ | ✗ | Sometimes |
| Runs in the browser | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| No install | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
Char to ASCII reports code points and byte counts side by side, which is the distinction behind most encoding bugs and database length errors.