Hex Decoder
Paste any hex byte string and decode it back to readable text instantly. Free, private — nothing is uploaded.
Your decoded text will appear here.Related tools
Why use PixelTools' hex decoder
Live encode and decode
The result updates instantly as you type — no button to click, no page reload.
One-click swap
Swap the output back into the input and flip the mode to check your work or reverse a conversion.
Full UTF-8 support
Emoji, accented letters, and non-Latin scripts encode and decode correctly, byte for byte.
Lenient hex parsing
Paste hex with spaces, commas, or 0x prefixes — they're stripped automatically before decoding.
100% private
Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type or paste is uploaded or stored.
Copy or download
Grab the result to your clipboard, or download it as a .txt file.
Three steps to use the hex decoder
- 1
Paste your hex string
Paste hex bytes with or without spaces, commas, or 0x prefixes — this tool strips them automatically.
- 2
Read the result instantly
Your hex decodes to readable UTF-8 text as you type — a clear error appears if the hex is malformed.
- 3
Copy, download, or swap direction
Grab the result with one click, download it as a .txt file, or hit swap to convert it right back and check your work.
Who needs a hex decoder?
Anyone staring at a raw byte dump — a network capture, a memory inspector, or a log line full of hex — needs a fast way to turn it back into readable text without installing a CLI tool.
Debugging byte data
Turn a raw byte dump from a debugger, memory inspector, or crash log back into readable text in seconds.
Inspecting network payloads
Decode hex-encoded bytes from a packet capture or API payload without installing a CLI tool.
Writing byte-array literals
Generate the exact hex byte sequence for a string you need to embed as a byte array or test payload.
Learning encoding basics
See exactly how text maps to bytes and hex — a common early topic in CS and networking courses.
Frequently asked questions
I copied a byte string from Wireshark or a hex editor — will this decode it?
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Yes. Packet captures, hex editors (like HxD or xxd output), and memory dumps typically print bytes as space-separated hex pairs, sometimes with offset columns you'll need to trim first. Paste just the byte values and this decoder handles the rest, including runs with no spaces at all.
Can this decoder handle a hex dump with line numbers or ASCII side-by-side?
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Not automatically — tools like xxd print an address offset and an ASCII preview alongside the hex, which aren't valid hex characters. Strip those columns first (leaving just the hex byte pairs), then paste the remainder here.
What is hexadecimal (hex)?
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Hexadecimal is base 16 — it uses the digits 0-9 plus the letters a-f to represent a value, so every byte (0-255) fits in exactly two hex digits. It's the standard way to display raw byte data because it's far more compact than binary and easier to read in fixed-width pairs.
Is my text or hex data uploaded anywhere?
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No. Everything runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript — nothing you type or paste is sent to a server.
Does this handle emoji and non-English text?
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Yes. Text is encoded as UTF-8 bytes before converting to hex, so accented letters, CJK characters, and emoji all round-trip correctly — multi-byte characters just take up more than one hex pair, exactly as they do on disk or over the network.
Why do I get an error when I paste my hex?
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The most common cause is an odd number of hex digits (each byte needs exactly two) or a stray non-hex character. This tool strips spaces, commas, and 0x prefixes automatically, but it can't guess a truncated or corrupted byte.
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