HEX HeroUTF-8 to Hexadecimal Converter
Convert UTF-8 encoded text to hexadecimal format instantly with our free online tool. Supports international characters and multi-byte sequences—no registration required. Perfect for Unicode debugging and data analysis.
How to Convert UTF-8 to Hex
Type Multilingual Text
Enter Unicode: Chinese, Arabic, emoji, or any language
View Variable-Length Bytes
Watch characters expand to 1-4 hex bytes per symbol
Validate Byte Sequences
Copy correctly-formed UTF-8 hex for databases or APIs
Match Your Framework
Format with \x escape codes or 0x prefix for code
UTF-8 to Hex Conversion Examples
| UTF-8 Input | Hex Output | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 日本語 | E6 97 A5 E6 9C AC E8 AA 9E | Japanese characters (3 bytes each) |
| مرحبا | D9 85 D8 B1 D8 AD D8 A8 D8 A7 | Arabic text (2 bytes each, RTL) |
| Ü ä Ñ | C3 9C 20 C3 A4 20 C3 91 | European diacritics (2 bytes) |
| 한국어 | ED 95 9C EA B5 AD EC 96 B4 | Korean Hangul (3 bytes each) |
| ©€™ | C2 A9 E2 82 AC E2 84 A2 | Copyright, Euro, Trademark symbols |
What is UTF-8 to Hex Conversion?
UTF-8 to hex encoding powers 98% of the modern web by supporting every language on Earth through variable-length byte sequences. When you convert UTF-8 text to hexadecimal, English characters use efficient 1-byte codes (backward compatible with ASCII), while international characters expand to 2-4 bytes—Japanese 日 becomes E6 97 A5 (3 bytes), emoji 😀 becomes F0 9F 98 80 (4 bytes). This intelligent design makes UTF-8 the universal choice for databases, APIs, and internationalized applications.
Unlike fixed-width encodings that waste space, UTF-8 optimizes storage by using shorter codes for common characters and longer sequences for rare symbols. The hex representation reveals the underlying byte structure: first byte patterns (C0-DF, E0-EF, F0-F7) indicate sequence length, while continuation bytes (80-BF) carry character data. Web developers rely on UTF-8 hex values to debug encoding errors, validate international text, and ensure proper character rendering across languages. Most modern programming languages and frameworks assume UTF-8 by default. Reverse the process with our Hex to UTF-8 decoder, and see ASCII compatibility in our character reference table.
UTF-8 Byte Sequences: Quick Guide
Byte Length by Range
Common Examples
Common Use Cases for UTF-8 to Hex Encoding
Web Internationalization (i18n)
- • Multilingual website content
- • Translation file encoding (JSON/XML)
- • Right-to-left language support
- • CJK character validation
Database Character Set Issues
- • MySQL/PostgreSQL encoding debug
- • MongoDB BSON text fields
- • Migration charset validation
- • BLOB field corruption analysis
Email & Messaging Systems
- • Subject line encoding (MIME)
- • International names (é, ñ, ü)
- • SMS Unicode message encoding
- • Push notification text validation
UTF-8 Encoding Advantages
Unicode Compliance
1M+ international characters
Multi-Byte Precision
1-4 byte sequence handling
Web Standard Format
Used by 98% of websites
CJK Character Support
Asian language encoding
Emoji Compatible
Modern Unicode symbols
i18n Testing
Debug internationalization
Understanding UTF-8 Encoding to Hexadecimal
UTF-8 encoding uses a self-synchronizing variable-length design where the first byte's bit pattern signals how many continuation bytes follow. Single bytes starting with 0 (00-7F) are ASCII. Two-byte sequences start with 110xxxxx (C0-DF) followed by 10xxxxxx (80-BF). Three-byte sequences begin with 1110xxxx (E0-EF), and four-byte sequences with 11110xxx (F0-F7). This prefix pattern allows parsers to detect character boundaries even when dropped mid-stream.
The encoding deliberately avoids certain byte values: C0 and C1 are invalid (they would encode ASCII inefficiently), and F5-FF are forbidden (they would exceed Unicode's maximum codepoint U+10FFFF). Continuation bytes must be 80-BF—any byte outside this range indicates corruption or malformed data. For example, the Euro symbol € (U+20AC) encodes as E2 82 AC: E2 signals 3-byte sequence, 82 and AC are continuation bytes carrying data bits.
Byte Order Marks (BOM) like EF BB BF can appear at file starts, though they're discouraged in UTF-8 since byte order is fixed. When debugging character encoding issues, check for overlong encodings (like C0 80 for NULL instead of 00)—these are security vulnerabilities that proper decoders reject. The ASCII to Hex table shows the 1-byte UTF-8 subset. For reverse conversion, try our Hex to UTF-8 converter.
UTF-8 Encoding Questions
Why do emoji require 4 hex bytes instead of 1?
Emoji live in Unicode's Supplementary Plane (U+10000+), requiring 4-byte UTF-8 encoding. Example: 😀 = F0 9F 98 80. Databases must use utf8mb4 charset (not utf8) or emoji get truncated.
How do I fix "Incorrect string value" errors in MySQL?
Convert problem text to hex. If you see F0+ leading bytes (4-byte chars), your column is utf8 (max 3 bytes). Alter table to utf8mb4 to support full Unicode including emoji and rare CJK characters.
What's the difference between UTF-8 and UTF-16 encoding?
UTF-8 uses 1-4 bytes (variable). UTF-16 uses 2-4 bytes (always even). Web/Linux prefer UTF-8 for efficiency. Windows/Java use UTF-16 internally. APIs should always use UTF-8 for compatibility.
How do right-to-left languages like Arabic appear in hex?
Arabic uses 2-byte UTF-8 sequences (D8-DB range). مرحبا = D9 85 D8 B1 D8 AD D8 A8 D8 A7. Byte order stays left-to-right in hex; RTL display is handled by rendering, not encoding.
Why does café encode differently than cafe?
The é is 2 bytes: C3 A9. So café = 63 61 66 C3 A9 (5 bytes total). cafe = 63 61 66 65 (4 bytes). String length differs from byte length for non-ASCII chars—critical for buffer sizing.
What does the byte EF BB BF at file start mean?
UTF-8 BOM (Byte Order Mark). Windows adds it; Unix tools often break. Many parsers treat it as invisible, but it can cause bugs. Convert to hex to detect, then strip if causing issues.
Convert hexadecimal numbers to UTF8 characters.
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ASCII to hex conversion table.