Exclamation mark in Morse code
Written “!”, not in the ITU standard
The exclamation mark (!) is usually sent in Morse code as -.-.--, said dah-di-dah-di-dah-dah, the letters K and W run together. It is a convention rather than an official sign: the international standard has no exclamation mark. An older form, ---., is still used by some operators in North America, and -.-.-- is the code this site's translator sends.
-.-.-- (dash dot dash dot dash dash)
“dah-di-dah-di-dah-dah”dash dot dash dot dash dash
6 elements · 2 dots, 4 dashes · 19 units
Hear it at your speed (WPM)
1267 ms at 18 WPM
The exclamation mark at a glance
- Morse code
- -.-.--
- Said as
- dah-di-dah-di-dah-dah
- Elements
- 6
- Length
- 19 units
- At 18 WPM
- 1267 ms
- ITU standard
- No
- Sounds like
- KWLetters run together
No ! in the ITU standard
ITU-R M.1677-1 sets out the signs every operator is expected to know, and the exclamation mark is not among them. Wikipedia lists it under nonstandard punctuation. So there is no single official code for !, and two are in use.
Two codes: KW from Heathkit, MN from older practice
-.-.--, written KW, was proposed in the 1980s by the Heathkit Company. Morse translation software prefers it.---., written MN, is the older form. Some amateur operators in North America and the Caribbean still send it.
K3WWP's punctuation list calls ---. "commonly used, but not official", and adds that neither code is used very often on the air.
Hear it
- Ö---.
When ---. means Ö
The older form clashes with a letter. In International Morse ---. is also Ö, the code shared with Ó and Ø, so a decoder set to International Morse turns MN into Ö rather than !. The form itself comes from American (Railroad) Morse, where ---. was the exclamation mark.
Hear it
- Ö---.
Characters to compare
Close to the exclamation mark in sound, so the likeliest mix-ups.
- Exclamation mark with its 6th dash as a dot: Semicolon, dash dot dash dot dash dot
- Question mark in Morse code: Question mark, dot dot dash dash dot dot
- Ö in Morse code: Ö, dash dash dash dot
Which one did you hear?
Listen, then pick or type the one you heard.
Try the exclamation mark in a word
Tap the exclamation mark yourself
Press for a dot, hold for a dash. Space works too.
- Send
- -.-.--
- Yours
- Nothing yet
A question about Exclamation mark.
Is an exclamation point the same in Morse code?
Yes. Exclamation point and exclamation mark are two names for !, and the Morse is the same for both: -.-.-- in most charts, or ---. in older North American use.