UTF-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.

UTF-8

Enter UTF-8 text to convert

HEXADECIMAL

Outputs hexadecimal (base-16) representation

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How to Convert UTF-8 to Hex

1

Type Multilingual Text

Enter Unicode: Chinese, Arabic, emoji, or any language

2

View Variable-Length Bytes

Watch characters expand to 1-4 hex bytes per symbol

3

Validate Byte Sequences

Copy correctly-formed UTF-8 hex for databases or APIs

4

Match Your Framework

Format with \x escape codes or 0x prefix for code

UTF-8 to Hex Conversion Examples

UTF-8 InputHex OutputDescription
日本語E6 97 A5 E6 9C AC E8 AA 9EJapanese characters (3 bytes each)
مرحباD9 85 D8 B1 D8 AD D8 A8 D8 A7Arabic text (2 bytes each, RTL)
Ü ä ÑC3 9C 20 C3 A4 20 C3 91European diacritics (2 bytes)
한국어ED 95 9C EA B5 AD EC 96 B4Korean Hangul (3 bytes each)
©€™C2 A9 E2 82 AC E2 84 A2Copyright, 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

U+0000 to U+007F→ 1 byte
U+0080 to U+07FF→ 2 bytes
U+0800 to U+FFFF→ 3 bytes
U+10000 to U+10FFFF→ 4 bytes

Common Examples

A (ASCII)→ 41
é (Latin)→ C3 A9
€ (Symbol)→ E2 82 AC
中 (CJK)→ E4 B8 AD
💡 Pro Tip: When storing emoji or Asian characters in databases, always ensure your column charset is utf8mb4 (not utf8), otherwise 4-byte UTF-8 sequences get truncated.

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.

Convert text characters to hexadecimal numbers.

Convert ASCII characters to hexadecimal numbers.

Convert a string of characters to hexadecimal numbers.

ASCII to hex conversion table.


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