Every character a computer handles is stored as a number. Knowing those numbers — and being able to convert between a character and its code in different bases — is essential in programming, debugging, and working with text encodings. Our free ASCII and Unicode lookup tool shows you everything about any character instantly.
What Are ASCII and Unicode?
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is the original character encoding, assigning numbers 0–127 to letters, digits, punctuation, and control characters. It covers the basic English alphabet and common symbols.
Unicode is the modern superset that extends far beyond ASCII to cover every writing system in the world, plus symbols and emoji — over a million possible characters. The first 128 Unicode code points are identical to ASCII, so the two systems are compatible.
How to Look Up a Character Online
- Enter a character to see its code, or enter a code (decimal or hex) to see the character.
- View every representation — decimal, hexadecimal, octal, binary, and HTML entity.
- Get the escape forms for CSS and JavaScript.
- Browse the printable ASCII table (codes 32–126) and click any character to inspect it.
Character Code Representations
For any character, the lookup shows several equivalent forms. For the letter "A":
- Decimal: 65
- Hexadecimal: 0x41
- Octal: 0o101
- Binary: 01000001
- HTML entity:
AorA
Each is just a different way of writing the same underlying code point.
Common Uses
Debugging encodings — Identify an unexpected character by its exact code point when text looks garbled.
Programming — Get the right escape sequence for a character in code, or convert between a character and its numeric value.
Learning — Understand how text is represented at the byte level, a foundational concept in computer science.
Working with control characters — Look up non-printing characters like tab (9), newline (10), and carriage return (13).
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the ASCII and Unicode lookup free? Yes — it is free, requires no sign-up, and runs entirely in your browser.
What is the ASCII code for "A"? The capital letter "A" is 65 in decimal, 0x41 in hexadecimal, and 01000001 in binary.
What is the difference between ASCII and Unicode? ASCII covers 128 basic characters; Unicode extends this to over a million characters covering every writing system, while keeping the first 128 identical to ASCII.
Can I look up a character by its code? Yes. Enter a decimal or hexadecimal code point and the tool shows you the matching character and all its representations.
Need a character's code or escape sequence? Look it up and copy it in seconds.