Hex converter
What this hex converter does
Hexadecimal (base-16) packs four bits per symbol using 0-9 and A-F, which is why firmware engineers love it: compact enough for screenshots, precise enough for byte boundaries. This page converts ordinary text into hex representations of its underlying bytes—or reverses well-formed hex back into readable characters—without replacing a dedicated hex editor for giant binaries.
When to use it
Use it when diffing short secrets redacted in logs, when students confuse CSS #RRGGBB color triplets with encoded text (different problem entirely), or when an API doc shows UTF-8 examples as escaped hex. Hop to Binary converter for bitwise intuition and Ascii converter when you specifically want decimal code points instead.
Worked example
You hex a suspicious cookie fragment and spot 28 bytes of printable ASCII followed by binary gibberish—maybe gzip inside—prompting you to decode with the right layer instead of guessing character encoding blind.
Frequently asked questions
Include 0x or spaces?
Tools disagree. Strip prefixes unless the parser documents them; insert consistent separators between byte pairs.
Uppercase versus lowercase hex?
Both parse the same value; pick one style for copy/paste hygiene.
Is hex encryption?
No—it is a writable alphabet for bytes. Anyone can read what you hex unless you encrypted first.