What does "surrogate-correct" mean for emoji?

Characters beyond U+FFFF (like most emoji) are stored in JavaScript as two UTF-16 code units called a surrogate pair. A naive converter using charCodeAt(0) would only capture the first half and corrupt the character. This tool works per code point, so encoding then decoding an emoji returns the exact same character. The JS/JSON notation deliberately emits the surrogate pair so it stays valid JavaScript.

Which notations can the decoder read?

Decoding auto-detects and accepts \uXXXX, \u{...}, \xXX, U+XXXX, HTML hex (&#xXXXX;), HTML decimal (&#NNNN;), and bare lists of 0x.. / U+.. / decimal code points separated by spaces or commas. You can even mix several formats in one input — anything it does not recognize is left unchanged rather than causing an error.

What is the difference between the JS and ES6 notations?

JS/JSON uses fixed four-hex-digit \uXXXX escapes per UTF-16 unit, so an astral character produces two escapes (a surrogate pair) and the output is valid in JSON. ES6 uses \u{X} with one escape per code point — more compact and readable for emoji, but only valid in modern JavaScript, not JSON.

What does the code-point inspector show?

When encoding, a table lists each character with its U+ code point, decimal value, the bytes of its UTF-8 encoding, and its UTF-16 code units. It is a quick way to see exactly how a character is represented at the byte level. The table caps at the first 500 code points for very long input.

Does the CSS notation work for decoding too?

The CSS escape (\XXXX with a trailing space) is offered as an encode-only output format. For decoding, the auto-detector covers the JavaScript, U+, HTML, and code-point list forms. If you need to turn CSS escapes back into text, convert them to one of the supported decode formats first.

Why are HTML numeric references useful?

HTML hex (&#xXXXX;) and decimal (&#NNNN;) references let you place any Unicode character in markup using only ASCII, which avoids charset and copy-paste problems. Encode to one of those formats to embed symbols or emoji portably; decode them to see the characters they represent.

Unicode Converter

Convert text to Unicode escapes in 8 notations (JS \uXXXX, ES6 \u{}, U+, HTML, code points) and decode any of them back — surrogate-correct for emoji. Live, with a per-character code-point inspector.

About this ToolHow it works, benefits & use cases

This converter turns text into Unicode escape sequences in eight different notations and decodes any of them back to characters. Encode to JS/JSON \uXXXX (valid JavaScript and JSON, astral characters emitted as surrogate pairs so they round-trip exactly), ES6 \u{X} one-escape-per-code-point, CSS-style \XXXX, the standard U+ notation, HTML hex (&#xXXXX;) or decimal (&#NNNN;) references, or bare hex (0xXXXX) and decimal code-point lists. Crucially it is surrogate-correct: emoji and other characters outside the basic plane are handled by code point, not split incorrectly the way a naive charCodeAt approach would. The decoder auto-detects mixed input — \uXXXX, \u{}, \xXX, U+, &#x;, &#;, and bare code-point lists — and reassembles the text without throwing. A live code-point inspector table breaks down each character into its code point, decimal value, UTF-8 bytes, and UTF-16 units. It runs entirely in your browser.

How to Use

1Choose "Encode (text → Unicode)" or "Decode (Unicode → text)" with the toggle.
2When encoding, pick a notation from the Output format dropdown (JS \uXXXX, ES6 \u{}, CSS, U+, HTML hex/decimal, or code points).
3Type or paste your text — when encoding, the result and a per-character code-point inspector update live.
4When decoding, paste any mix of escape formats; the tool auto-detects and converts them to text.
5Click Convert to confirm, then copy, download, swap input ↔ output, or share the link.

Key Benefits

Eight output notations: JS \uXXXX, ES6 \u{}, CSS, U+, HTML hex/decimal, and code-point lists
Surrogate-correct — emoji and astral characters encode and decode without breaking
JS/JSON output round-trips exactly as valid JavaScript escapes
Decoder auto-detects mixed \uXXXX, \u{}, \xXX, U+, &#x;, &#; and bare code points
Never-throws decoding leaves unrecognized fragments intact
Live code-point inspector showing decimal, UTF-8 bytes, and UTF-16 units per character
Two-way conversion with swap and a shareable URL

Common Use Cases

Generating \uXXXX escapes to embed non-ASCII text safely in source or JSON
Reading the exact code point and UTF-8 bytes of an emoji or unfamiliar glyph
Producing HTML numeric character references for portable markup
Decoding escaped strings copied from logs, JSON, or another language’s source
Debugging encoding issues by inspecting UTF-16 surrogate pairs of a character

Output format

Notation

Valid JavaScript/JSON escapes; astral chars emit a surrogate pair. Round-trips exactly.

Input text

0 code points · live

Unicode escapes

Valid JavaScript/JSON escapes; astral chars emit a surrogate pair. Round-trips exactly.

Enter text above to see its Unicode escapes.

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Unicode Converter

How to Use

Key Benefits

Common Use Cases

Output format

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