Morse code audio translator
Translate Morse code audio to text online: upload a recording or a video, record a clip, or listen live. This Morse code audio converter finds the tone and the speed by itself. Free, and the sound never leaves your device.
Your recording
Drop a recording or video here
WAV, MP3, M4A, AAC, FLAC, OGG, Opus, WebM, MP4 or MOV, up to 15 minutes. It stays on your device.
Raise it for a faint signal, lower it if noise shows up as letters.
- Any recording or videoAudio files or a video’s soundtrack, up to 15 minutes
- Finds the tone and speedNo settings to match first
- Stays on your deviceFiles are decoded in your browser, never uploaded
How to use
Choose a file or drop it on the box (audio or video), press Record a clip, or open Listen live and play the Morse near your microphone.
Read the decoded text and the Morse. The line above them gives the tone and speed it found.
Check the spectrogram: the dashed line is the tone being read. Tap another tone under it, or drag across a stretch and press Decode this part.
Letters missing or extra? Move Sensitivity, or tick Set the speed myself and enter the speed.
Copy the text or the Morse, download it as a text file or as subtitles, or press Open in translator to hear it again cleanly.
What it does
This Morse code audio decoder turns sound into dots, dashes and text:
Any recording or video. WAV, MP3, M4A, AAC, FLAC, OGG, Opus and WebM audio, or the soundtrack of an MP4, MOV or WebM video, up to 15 minutes. Or record a clip of up to 5 minutes.
Live. Listen live decodes as the sound plays, with a waterfall of the pitches it hears.
It finds the tone and the speed. No settings to match first; each transmission is timed on its own.
Every station in the file. When more than one tone stands out, each is listed; tap one to read that station.
Part of a recording. Drag across the spectrogram to read one stretch and zoom in on it.
Shows its work. A spectrogram with a playhead, each letter on a timeline (tap one to play from there), and a clarity score.
Keeps the result. Copy the text or the Morse, or save a .txt file or .srt subtitles timed to the recording.
It reads eight code tables, from International (with prosigns and accented letters) to Japanese Wabun. Written Morse goes in Morse code to English instead. To turn text into Morse code audio, use the Morse code generator.
How it works
The decoder adapts to each recording in four steps, all in your browser:
Finds the tone
It measures every pitch from 300 to 1,500 Hz in 10 Hz steps across the whole recording, refines the strongest to 2 Hz, and keeps it if it stands at least 6 dB above the typical pitch.
Follows the tone
A Goertzel filter measures just that pitch every 5 milliseconds, so hum, hiss and voices at other pitches stay out.
Hears the key
The level is smoothed over 25 ms and compared with a threshold read from the 1.5 seconds before it and the 0.4 seconds after, so fading is followed.
A margin either side of it stops noise from chattering.
Reads the timing
ITU-R M.1677-1 sets a dash at 3 dots, the gap inside a letter at 1, between letters at 3 and between words at 7. Each beep plus the gap after it gives the dot length (2 units after a dot, 4 after a dash), so a tone that reads long doesn’t skew it.
Letter and word gaps are sorted from the gaps themselves, so Farnsworth spacing decodes. A long pause starts a new transmission with its own timing.
Speed is shown in words per minute by the PARIS standard (one dot lasts 1,200 ÷ WPM milliseconds). Clarity is half the tone’s rise over the background (6 dB counts as nothing, 30 dB as full) and half the share of beeps that fit a clean dot or dash.
Examples
Test recordings made with the site’s audio engine:
| Recording | Length | It reads |
|---|---|---|
| The CQ call sample: CQ CQ DE W1AW K, 18 WPM, 650 Hz, light hiss | 10.1 s | CQ CQ DE W1AW K · tone 650 Hz · about 18 WPM |
| PARIS PARIS at 5 WPM | 22.3 s | PARIS PARIS · 5 WPM |
| PARIS PARIS at 50 WPM | 2.2 s | PARIS PARIS · about 50 WPM |
| HELLO WORLD, letters at 18 WPM, Farnsworth spacing at 8 | 14.2 s | HELLO WORLD · 18 WPM (the letter speed) |
| HELLO WORLD at 20 WPM, hiss almost as loud as the tone | 6.7 s | HELLO WORLD · clarity 86% |
| CQ TEST at 25 WPM, a 10-second pause, then QRZ at 12 WPM | 16.3 s | CQ TEST QRZ, each part timed on its own |
| CQ TEST at 600 Hz, then QRZ at 900 Hz | 6.3 s | QRZ; Tones found lists 600 and 900 Hz, and 600 reads CQ TEST |
| TTT at 20 WPM | 0.9 s | S: three marks of one length could be dots or dashes. Set the speed to 20 and it reads TTT |
Good questions
Frequently asked questions.
About the Morse code audio translator
How do I convert Morse code audio to text?
Upload the recording or drop it on the box, and the text appears in a few seconds with the Morse beside it. The decoder finds the pitch and the speed itself. If the Morse is playing right now, open Listen live and hold your phone or laptop near the speaker.
How do I find Morse code in an audio file?
Upload the whole file: the decoder searches every pitch from 300 to 1,500 Hz across the recording and reads the strongest tone. When more than one tone stands out, each is listed under the spectrogram as Tones found; tap one to read it. If the Morse sits between talking or music, drag across that stretch and press Decode this part.
What audio and video files can it read?
Any file your browser can play: WAV, MP3, M4A, AAC, FLAC, OGG, Opus and WebM audio, and MP4, MOV and WebM video, where it reads the soundtrack. It decodes the first 15 minutes.
WAV keeps the edges of each beep sharpest, but a clear MP3 reads just as well.
No file to test with? Try a sample (CQ call, SOS, Two stations or Fast in static), or make one with the Morse code generator.
Can it decode Morse code in a YouTube or TikTok video?
Yes, if the Morse is a beep. Save the video and upload it, or open Listen live and play the video next to your microphone. Drag across the spectrogram to skip talking or music.
If the Morse is a flashing light, open the video in the light translator, which reads a light in a video file.
Why does it show the wrong letters?
Usually noise or another sound. Lower Sensitivity if noise turns into extra letters; raise it if a faint signal loses letters.
If another sound is louder than the Morse, tap the right tone under the spectrogram or drag across the clean stretch. A very short message can’t show its own speed: tick Set the speed myself.
Is there an app or a real-time Morse code decoder?
Yes, and you don’t need to install one. Open Listen live on this page and play the Morse near your phone or laptop: letters appear as the sound plays, with a waterfall of the pitches it hears.
For a voice memo or a video you already have, upload the file instead. It works in the browser on phones, tablets and computers, and the sound stays on your device.
What is the best software for decoding Morse code?
For live radio at a desk, ham operators often run a desktop decoding program that reads a receiver’s audio around the clock. For a recording, a video or a quick listen, this page needs no download: it reads the file, shows the spectrogram and lets you pick the station.
Can AI decode Morse code?
Yes, some apps use neural networks trained on hours of radio Morse. This decoder doesn’t need one: it measures the tone and the length of every beep and gap, so it runs on your device and shows why it read each letter. To read Morse by ear yourself, try the Koch method course.
Trust and limits
Private by design.
Honest about limits.
On your device
Runs in your browser
The decoder runs in your browser. Files are decoded on your device with the Web Audio API and never uploaded; recordings and live sound are never stored.Know the limits
How much it reads
It reads up to 15 minutes of a file and records clips of up to 5 minutes. It follows one tone at a time between 300 and 1,500 Hz, and reads from about 5 to 50 WPM in our tests.Know the limits
What it can’t read
It can’t read a telegraph sounder’s clicks (they have no pitch), two stations on the same pitch at once, or Morse buried under louder music or speech. Very uneven hand sending may lose letters. American Morse is only partly read from sound: its long dashes and spaced letters (C, O, R, Y, Z) need more than dots and dashes.ITU-R M.1677-1
How results are checked
The decoder is tested on recordings made with the site’s audio engine, from 5 to 50 WPM, with hiss, Farnsworth spacing and two stations (the Examples table), and its timing follows ITU-R M.1677-1. Maintained by Translate Morse Code, an independent site; last updated October 2026.