CONVERTERS
Unicode Escape Encoder & Decoder
Convert Unicode text to JavaScript-style escapes and decode escaped text.
CODE POINTS
Escape Unicode locally
Unicode escaping happens in your browser and is never uploaded.
Unicode escape guide
Unicode escapes represent characters using code points, commonly in JavaScript and JSON strings. This tool converts text to readable JavaScript-style escapes and decodes four-digit and brace-style escapes back into text.
Escaping changes how text is written; it does not encrypt or compress the text.
Code points and UTF-16
Basic Multilingual Plane characters can be written as four hexadecimal digits such as \u00e9. Characters outside that range, including many emoji, need a supplementary code point; this tool uses the modern brace form such as \u{1f600} for clarity.
JSON compatibility
JSON commonly uses four-digit Unicode escapes and surrogate pairs for supplementary characters. The brace form is convenient JavaScript syntax but is not accepted by every JSON parser, so use the four-digit form or a correctly generated surrogate pair when strict JSON compatibility is required.
Use escaping for the right layer
Escape text when a file format or programming language requires it. Do not use it as a security boundary, and do not confuse a displayed escape sequence with the underlying character value.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Unicode escape a different character?
Usually no. It is another written representation of the same Unicode code point.
Why do emoji use more than four digits?
Many emoji are outside the Basic Multilingual Plane and need a supplementary code point.
Are brace-style escapes valid JSON?
Not universally. Strict JSON uses four-digit escapes, with surrogate pairs for supplementary characters.
Privacy note: Unicode escaping happens in your browser. Your text is not submitted to NAB Tools.