How to Read Binary Code
Four steps turn any string of 0s and 1s into letters. Try them in the practice box below.
Reading Binary Step by Step
- Split the binary into bytes. Group the digits into sets of eight from the left. Each group of eight bits is one byte, and in plain English text one byte is one character.
- Write the place values over each byte. From left to right the eight positions are worth 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2 and 1. Each place is double the one to its right.
- Add up the places that hold a 1. Ignore the positions with a 0. The sum of the positions with a 1 is the byte’s value, a number from 0 to 255.
- Look the number up as a character. Use an ASCII table or the binary alphabet: 65 to 90 are A to Z, 97 to 122 are a to z, 48 to 57 are the digits and 32 is a space.
Practice: Flip the Bits
Tap a bit to switch it between 0 and 1. The sum of the place values that are on is the byte's value.
01001000 = 64 + 8 = 72, which is “H”.
Worked Example: 01001000 01101001
| Byte | Places with a 1 | Value | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01001000 | 64 + 8 | 72 | H |
| 01101001 | 64 + 32 + 8 + 1 | 105 | i |
So 01001000 01101001 reads “Hi”. A quicker check: capital letters start with 010, lowercase letters with 011, and the last five bits are the letter's position in the alphabet (H is the 8th letter: 01000).
Check Your Answer
Paste the same binary into the binary translator to confirm, look letters up in the binary alphabet, or write your own message with the text to binary translator.
Frequently asked questions
Do you read binary from left to right?
You read the bytes from left to right, like words in a sentence. Inside a byte, the leftmost bit is the biggest place value (128) and the rightmost is the smallest (1).
Why are there eight digits in each group?
Eight bits make a byte, the unit computers use for one character of English text. A byte can hold 256 values (0 to 255), enough for every ASCII character. Some older material uses 7-bit groups, which are the same codes without the leading 0.
What if a group has only seven digits?
If every group has seven digits, it is probably 7-bit ASCII: put a 0 in front and read it normally. If only one group is short, a digit was likely lost when it was typed, and every character after it will come out wrong.
How do I read binary numbers that are not text?
The same way: add up the place values. 101 is 4 + 0 + 1 = 5. Only when the bytes are meant as text do you take the extra step of looking each number up as a character.