Octal to Text Converter (ASCII Codes)

This converter works on code values, one at a time, from the table. Codes are not capped, so values above 127 are accepted. For whole text rather than single codes, use Binary to Text; for a plain number, use Octal to Decimal.

Going the other way? Convert text back to octal →

How do you convert octal to text?

Octal to text conversion reads each value as a code between 0 and 127 and looks up the character that the ASCII table gives for it.

1. Read the first value. This example uses 110.
2. Convert it to a decimal code if it is not one already: 72.
3. Look that code up in the table. 72 is H.
4. Repeat for every value and join the results: 110 151 = Hi.

Octal to Text Conversion Table

The codes this page works through, each with the character it stands for and the same value in hex, octal and binary. Find the code in the first column and read across; the row is the whole conversion. Codes 0 to 31 and 127 have no glyph, so the Char column shows their short name instead. This page shows the rows you need; ASCII code chart (decimal, hex, octal, binary) carries all 128.

The base this page writes, defined by the digits it uses, how a value is marked, and what each position is worth.

Worked Example: 110 151 to Text

One code value, taken from the table and written out in full. This is the same working the converter shows when you turn on "show steps".

Start with the code itself: 72. The table gives one row per code from 0 to 127, and that row is the whole answer — there is no arithmetic to get wrong, only a row to find. Reading the row across gives the same value in every base the table carries.

The row gives H directly. Nothing is padded and nothing is rounded, so a code either has a row or it is out of range — and the converter says which. That is the difference between a lookup and a calculation, and it is why the answer here can be checked by eye against the table above.

Check it in reverse

The value looks the same read backwards. H maps to code 72, and code 72 maps to 110 — the table is a two-way lookup, not a calculation, so no rounding or padding can change the answer. To verify the result by hand, encode the text back to octal codes and compare it with the code you started from.

Worked examples: octal to text

Each example gives the value first, then the working. Click a value to load it in the converter.

Every example above reverses exactly — write the same characters back as octal escapes.

What Changes the Code Output?

Values above 127

Values above 127 are accepted here, because this converter is not capped to ASCII. 233 is é and 8364 is €. the ASCII code chart in four bases lists the codes that ASCII itself defines.

Which base the code is written in

The same code can be typed as decimal, hex, octal or binary, and the base selector says which one you mean. 65, 41, 101 and 01000001 are all the letter A. Pick the wrong base and you look up a different row.

Control codes and printable codes

Codes 32 to 126 are printable characters; 0–31 and 127 are control codes. A control code has no glyph, so the table shows its short name instead — 10 is LF, 13 is CR. Converting one is valid; displaying one is not.

One code or a list

Several codes separated by spaces convert as a list, in order, and each keeps its own row. The separator is a display choice and does not change any value.

Octal to Text in Code

The same rule in one line. Both take code values and return the characters.

Python: bytes(int(g, 8) for g in s.split()).decode('utf-8')

JavaScript: new TextDecoder().decode(new Uint8Array(s.split(/\s+/).map(g => parseInt(g, 8))))

Common Mistakes

• Typing text where a code value belongs. The converter reads 72 as one code, not as the characters 7 and 2 — for whole text use decode binary code into words.
• Reading a code in the wrong base. 41 is A in hex and ) in decimal.
• Expecting a character above 127. That value is outside ASCII and the answer depends on which extended set is meant.
• Dropping the padding on a fixed-width code, so a list of codes can no longer be split apart.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Conversions

• If your input is binary rather than octal, decode binary code into words instead.
• Octal also converts to binary by the same lookup — octal to binary with the 8-row table.
• Octal also converts to hex by the same lookup — oct to hex through a binary pivot.
• Octal also converts to decimal by the same lookup — oct to dec by 8^n weights.
• If your input is ASCII codes rather than octal, convert ASCII code to text instead.
• If your input is binary rather than octal, bin to ASCII code lookup instead.

The rest of the family sits on the full converter grid.