Bytes to String Converter

Conversion Guide

Learn how to easily convert different byte formats to readable text with our tool. Follow these simple steps to get accurate results every time.

  1. Input Your Bytes
    • Enter bytes in any supported format – the tool will automatically figure out what you're using by default
    • Supported formats include: Hex (2 characters like "48"), Binary (8 bits like "01001000"), Decimal (0-255), Octal (3 digits like "110")
    • Use spaces, commas, or even random symbols as separators – the tool will ignore anything that's not part of the byte data
    • For Base64, just paste the entire string without any separators (like "SGVsbG8=")
  2. Configuration Options
    • Auto-detect: Lets the tool guess your input format – great if you're not sure what format you have
    • Strict mode: Checks that your input follows the rules for your selected format (e.g., hex should only have 0-9 and A-F)
    • Show byte array: Displays the raw byte values (0-255) before conversion – helpful for debugging
  3. Special Cases to Know
    • Base64: Works differently – the entire input is treated as a single Base64 string to decode
    • UTF-8 Support: Properly handles multi-byte characters like emojis (😊) or accented letters (é, ñ)
    • Invalid bytes: Shows a replacement symbol (�) when it encounters bytes that can't be decoded as valid text
    • Control characters: Special bytes like newlines (\n) or tabs (\t) will be converted to their actual effects in the output

Technical Details

Understanding how the conversion works under the hood can help you get better results and troubleshoot issues.

How the Decoding Works

Here's what happens when you click "Convert":

  1. Input cleaning: The tool first removes any extra characters that aren't part of the byte data (like spaces, commas, or symbols)
  2. Format identification: Either detects the format automatically or uses your manual selection
  3. Byte conversion: Turns your input into a standard byte array (numbers from 0 to 255)
  4. Text decoding: Uses the UTF-8 standard to turn the byte array into readable text – this is the same standard used by most websites and apps
  5. Error handling: Skips or replaces bytes that don't make sense in UTF-8, so you still get partial results even with bad data

How Format Detection Works

The tool checks your input in this order to guess the format:

  • Base64: First checks if the input looks like Base64 (only letters, numbers, +, /, and = for padding)
  • Binary: If it only contains 0s and 1s, and the total length is a multiple of 8 (since each byte is 8 bits)
  • Hexadecimal: If it only has 0-9, a-f, or A-F, and the length is even (since each byte is 2 hex characters)
  • Octal: If it only contains 0-7, and the length is a multiple of 3 (since each byte is 3 octal digits)
  • Decimal: Last, it looks for numbers between 0-255, separated by any non-number characters

If detection isn't working, try turning off auto-detect and selecting the format manually.

Example Conversions

See how different byte formats convert to text with these real examples:

Input Format Sample Input Output
Hexadecimal 48 65 6c 6c 6f 20 57 6f 72 6c 64 "Hello World"
Binary 01001000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111 "Hello"
Decimal 72 101 108 108 111 32 33 "Hello !"
Base64 SGVsbG8gV29ybGQ= "Hello World"
Octal 110 145 154 154 157 "Hello"
Mixed Hex 41, 42;43 44 "ABCD"

Common Issues & Fixes

Having trouble with your conversion? Here are solutions to problems people often run into:

  • "Invalid format" error: Make sure your input matches the rules for your selected format. For example, hex can't have letters beyond F, and decimal numbers can't be over 255.
  • Strange symbols in output: This usually happens when bytes don't form valid UTF-8. Try turning off strict mode or checking if you selected the right input format.
  • Auto-detect getting it wrong: If the tool guesses the wrong format, uncheck "Auto-detect" and pick the correct format from the dropdown.
  • Base64 not working: Base64 should be a continuous string without spaces. Remove any separators and try again.
  • Partial results: If only part of your input converts, check for invalid bytes in the middle of your data that might be breaking the conversion.
Need the reverse tool? Convert String to Bytes →