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Tool Factory

Encoding & Number Bases

Unicode Escape and Unescape

Escape Unicode characters or restore escaped characters.

Tool workspace

Your input stays in this browser.

Add the required input to continue.

Needs input

You can run the tool again after any change.

Options

Your result appears here

Escape Unicode characters or restore escaped characters.

This tool runs open-source code from CyberChef by GCHQ (Apache License 2.0). See open-source credits.

Unicode Escape and Unescape converts data between formats in your browser. For a correct result, check code-point notation.

Unicode escapes or restored characters Processing runs in the browser.

Instructions

  1. Provide text or data for this tool. Choose Escape or Unescape.
  2. Choose escape or unescape and the Unicode format.
  3. Compare the output with a known Unicode Escape and Unescape sample.
  4. Keep the original value until the receiving system accepts the result.

Example

Input: café

Settings: Unicode Escape and Unescape: choose escape or unescape and the Unicode format

Result: Unicode escapes or restored characters

Limits

  • Unicode Escape and Unescape: round trips depend on valid escape syntax
  • Unicode Escape and Unescape: The operation does not detect a different input format automatically.
  • Unicode Escape and Unescape: Processing stays in the browser.

Questions

How do I convert Unicode text to escape sequences?

Select the required Prefix, padding, and hexadecimal letter case. Enter the text to produce visible escape notation. Leave Encode all chars off to retain printable ASCII while escaping other characters.

Why does an emoji produce two Unicode escapes?

The encoder processes JavaScript UTF-16 code units. A character outside the basic multilingual plane can therefore produce two surrogate escapes. Keep both parts together when the destination expects JavaScript-style Unicode escapes.

Are U+, %u, and backslash-u interchangeable?

No. They express related hexadecimal values but serve different destination formats. Select the notation that your parser accepts. U+ notation is useful for discussion, but it is not automatically an executable string escape.

How do I turn Unicode escapes back into text?

Select Unescape and match Prefix to your input. A backslash-u prefix followed by 00E9 becomes é. Keep surrogate pairs together.