Baudot Code Translator (ITA2) – Encode & Decode 5-Bit

Direction

Variant

Output Format

Binary Bit Order

Include leading LTRSUnsupported characters:

Plain Text

Baudot / ITA2

Characters

Code Groups

Shift Codes

Unsupported

Shift State Trace

See how each 5-bit group is interpreted and where the stream switches between LETTERS and FIGURES.

Enter text or Baudot/ITA2 code to start translating.

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What Is Baudot Code?

Baudot code began as an early five-unit telegraph code. The later Baudot-Murray family reorganized the character assignments for teleprinter use, and its international form became International Telegraph Alphabet No. 2, or ITA2.

Today, “Baudot” is often used informally when people mean ITA2. They are historically related, but the original Baudot character assignments and ITA2 are not identical.

How ITA2 Uses LETTERS and FIGURES

Five bits provide only 32 possible code values, which is not enough to assign separate values to every letter, digit, punctuation mark and control function. ITA2 solves this by keeping one of two states active.

LTRS (11111) selects the LETTERS interpretation.

FIGS (11011) selects the FIGURES interpretation.

The selected state stays active until another shift code arrives. For example, the 5-bit value 00001 means E in LETTERS state but 3 in FIGURES state.

ITA2 Letters and Figures Reference

The table shows implementation-friendly 0–31 code values. LETTERS and FIGURES share each five-bit position, while LTRS and FIGS change how following values are interpreted.

International ITA2

Decimal	Hex	Binary	Letters	Figures	Notes
0	00	00000	NUL	NUL
1	01	00001	E	3
2	02	00010	LF	LF
3	03	00011	A	-
4	04	00100	SPACE	SPACE
5	05	00101	S	'
6	06	00110	I	8
7	07	00111	U	7
8	08	01000	CR	CR
9	09	01001	D	ENQ
10	0A	01010	R	4
11	0B	01011	J	BEL
12	0C	01100	N	,
13	0D	01101	F		National/private use
14	0E	01110	C	:
15	0F	01111	K	(
16	10	10000	T	5
17	11	10001	Z	+
18	12	10010	L	)
19	13	10011	W	2
20	14	10100	H		National/private use
21	15	10101	Y	6
22	16	10110	P	0
23	17	10111	Q	1
24	18	11000	O	9
25	19	11001	B	?
26	1A	11010	G		National/private use
27	1B	11011	FIGS	FIGS
28	1C	11100	M	.
29	1D	11101	X	/
30	1E	11110	V	=
31	1F	11111	LTRS	LTRS

US TTY

Decimal	Hex	Binary	Letters	Figures
0	00	00000	NUL	NUL
1	01	00001	E	3
2	02	00010	LF	LF
3	03	00011	A	-
4	04	00100	SPACE	SPACE
5	05	00101	S	BEL
6	06	00110	I	8
7	07	00111	U	7
8	08	01000	CR	CR
9	09	01001	D	$
10	0A	01010	R	4
11	0B	01011	J	'
12	0C	01100	N	,
13	0D	01101	F	!
14	0E	01110	C	:
15	0F	01111	K	(
16	10	10000	T	5
17	11	10001	Z	"
18	12	10010	L	)
19	13	10011	W	2
20	14	10100	H	#
21	15	10101	Y	6
22	16	10110	P	0
23	17	10111	Q	1
24	18	11000	O	9
25	19	11001	B	?
26	1A	11010	G	&
27	1B	11011	FIGS	FIGS
28	1C	11100	M	.
29	1D	11101	X	/
30	1E	11110	V	;
31	1F	11111	LTRS	LTRS

International ITA2 and US TTY

The two variants share the same letters, digits and shift mechanism, but several FIGURES positions differ. International ITA2 also leaves a small number of FIGURES positions available for national or private use, while US TTY assigns specific punctuation or control meanings to those positions.

Choose the variant that matches the source you are decoding. A stream interpreted with the wrong variant can produce plausible letters while some punctuation is wrong.

Baudot Code vs Morse Code

Morse code and ITA2 both come from telecommunication history, but they represent information differently.

Morse code uses variable-length dots and dashes and can be sent by sound, light or keying.

ITA2 uses fixed five-unit code groups designed for teleprinters. Because five bits are not enough for every printable character, ITA2 uses LETTERS and FIGURES shift states.

Need dots and dashes instead? Use the Morse Code Translator.

How to Use the Baudot Code Translator

Encode text to ITA2

Select Text → ITA2, choose the variant and enter your message. Lowercase text is normalized to uppercase, and the encoder inserts FIGS or LTRS whenever the active character set needs to change.

Decode ITA2

Select ITA2 → Text and paste 5-bit groups, decimal values or hexadecimal values in the selected format. The decoder follows every FIGS and LTRS shift so each code is interpreted in the correct state.

Check the trace

Open the Shift State Trace when you want to see exactly why a group produced a particular character or when the stream changed state.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Baudot code the same as ITA2?

Not exactly. Émile Baudot's original five-unit code used different character assignments. A later Murray-derived system became the basis for ITA2. Today, “Baudot” is often used informally to refer to Baudot-Murray or ITA2 teleprinter code.

Why does one 5-bit value represent two characters?

ITA2 has only 32 possible 5-bit values. LETTERS and FIGURES shift codes let the same value carry one meaning in the letters state and another in the figures state.

What are LTRS and FIGS?

LTRS (11111) switches the receiver to the letters table. FIGS (11011) switches it to the figures table for digits and punctuation. The selected state remains active until another shift code changes it.

Why are some punctuation marks unavailable in International ITA2?

The international standard leaves several FIGURES positions available for national or private use instead of assigning one universal symbol. Historical machines and national variants can therefore disagree at those positions.

What is the difference between International ITA2 and US TTY?

The alphabet and digits are largely the same, but several FIGURES positions differ. Symbols such as the dollar sign, number sign, semicolon and some control functions occupy different positions in US TTY.

Does ITA2 support lowercase letters?

Standard ITA2 does not provide separate ordinary codes for lowercase letters. This translator normalizes normal lowercase input to uppercase before encoding.