Hex to ASCII Converter

Convert hexadecimal to readable text instantly. Supports hex strings, batch conversion, multiple formats — all in your browser.
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What is Hexadecimal to ASCII Conversion?

Hexadecimal is the lingua franca of low-level computing. Every time you look at a hex dump, a network packet, or a file header, you're seeing data encoded as hex. Converting it to readable ASCII text is one of the most common operations in debugging, data analysis, and reverse engineering.

How Hex to ASCII Works

Hexadecimal (base-16) uses digits 0-9 and letters A-F. Each pair of hex digits represents one byte (0x00 to 0xFF). ASCII maps byte values 0x00-0x7F to 128 characters. The conversion process is straightforward:

  1. Split hex string into pairs: 48 65 6C 6C 6F becomes 48, 65, 6C, 6C, 6F
  2. Convert each pair to decimal: 48 (hex) = 72 (decimal)
  3. Look up ASCII character: 72 = 'H', 101 = 'e', 108 = 'l', 111 = 'o'
  4. Combine the characters: "Hello"

ASCII Character Set Overview

ASCII defines 128 characters total: 33 control characters (0x00-0x1F, 0x7F) and 95 printable characters (0x20-0x7E). The printable range includes spaces, digits, uppercase and lowercase letters, and punctuation symbols. Values above 0x7F require extended encodings like UTF-8 or Latin-1.

Hex to ASCII vs Hex to UTF-8

For values 0x00-0x7F, ASCII and UTF-8 produce identical results — UTF-8 is backward-compatible with ASCII. The difference appears above 0x7F: ASCII can't represent these values, while UTF-8 uses multi-byte sequences to encode over 1 million characters from all languages. Our tool supports both — toggle between encodings in the options.

How to Convert Hex to ASCII

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Split the hex string into pairs — Each pair of hex digits represents one character
  2. Convert each pair to decimal — Use base-16 math: 4×16 + 8 = 72
  3. Look up the ASCII character — 72 = 'H', 101 = 'e', 108 = 'l', 111 = 'o'
  4. Combine the characters — "Hello"
Hex Pair Decimal ASCII Character
48 72 H
65 101 e
6C 108 l
6C 108 l
6F 111 o

Result: 48656C6C6F → Hello

Common Hex to ASCII Conversions

Quick reference for frequently-used hex strings:

Hex String ASCII Text
48656C6C6F Hello
576F726C64 World
414243 ABC
30313233 0123
48656C6C6F20576F726C64 Hello World

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between hex to ASCII and hex to UTF-8?
ASCII covers 128 characters (English letters, digits, basic symbols) using values 0x00-0x7F. UTF-8 extends this to support over 1 million characters from every language, using 1-4 bytes per character. For hex values in the 0x00-0x7F range, ASCII and UTF-8 produce identical output. The difference only appears with values above 0x7F. Our tool supports both encodings.
How do I convert hex to text online?
Paste your hex string into the input field above. Our tool auto-detects the format (space-separated, continuous, colon-separated, or 0x-prefixed). The ASCII text appears instantly in the output field. You can copy the result or download it as a file. No signup, no limits, completely free.
What hex values correspond to printable ASCII characters?
Printable ASCII characters range from hex 0x20 (space) to 0x7E (tilde). That's 95 characters: 26 uppercase letters, 26 lowercase letters, 10 digits, and 33 punctuation/symbol characters. Values below 0x20 are control characters (like newline, tab), and 0x7F is the delete character.
Can I convert large hex files to ASCII?
Yes. Our tool processes files entirely in your browser, so it handles multi-megabyte hex strings without issues. Paste your hex data directly into the input field — conversion happens instantly as you type. No data is ever sent to a server.
What does '48656C6C6F' mean in ASCII?
48656C6C6F converts to the word "Hello." Here's the breakdown: 48=H, 65=e, 6C=l, 6C=l, 6F=o. Each pair of hex digits represents one ASCII character.
How to convert hex to ASCII in Python?
The simplest way: bytes.fromhex('48656C6C6F').decode('ascii') — this returns 'Hello'. The bytes.fromhex() method parses the hex string into bytes, and .decode('ascii') converts those bytes to a string. For non-ASCII hex values, use .decode('utf-8') instead.
What is ASCII code?
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is a character encoding standard from 1963. It assigns numbers 0-127 to 128 characters: English letters, digits, punctuation, and control codes. It's the foundation of modern text encoding — UTF-8 is backward-compatible with ASCII. Every hex pair from 00 to 7F maps to one ASCII character.
Is this tool free?
100% free, forever. No signup, no usage limits, no premium tier. The tool runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript — we don't have a server to bill you for. Convert as much hex as you need.