What is a Unicode escape sequence?

A Unicode escape sequence represents a character as \uXXXX where XXXX is the four-digit hexadecimal code point. For example, the capital letter A is \u0041 and the copyright symbol is \u00A9. Characters above U+FFFF use two surrogate pairs in UTF-16.

Why do emoji produce two escape sequences?

Emoji and other characters above U+FFFF are outside the Basic Multilingual Plane. In JavaScript (UTF-16), they are represented as surrogate pairs — two consecutive \uXXXX values. For example, the smiley face (U+1F600) encodes as \uD83D\uDE00.

Is this compatible with JavaScript string literals?

Yes. The encoded output is valid inside JavaScript and JSON string literals. You can paste the sequences directly into JS source code or a JSON value, and the runtime will interpret them as the original characters.

Does the tool handle mixed text and escape sequences?

Yes. During decoding, any \uXXXX or \uXXXX\uXXXX (surrogate pair) sequences found in the input are replaced with their characters, while all other text is passed through unchanged.

Are there any characters that cannot be encoded?

Every valid Unicode character can be encoded. Invalid lone surrogates (unpaired \uD800–\uDFFF) are preserved as-is during decoding rather than producing garbage output.

Is my data sent to a server?

No. All conversion happens entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Nothing is transmitted anywhere.

Unicode Escape Converter

Encode any text to \uXXXX Unicode escape sequences or decode them back to readable characters, with support for all Unicode planes including emoji.

Input

Mode: Encode (text → \\uXXXX) Decode (\\uXXXX → text)

Compact (no spaces between sequences) Uppercase hex (\\uXXXX → \\uXXXX)

Quick Examples

Output

Code Point Breakdown

Char	Code Point	Escape	Plane

Copied!

Summary

The Unicode Escape Converter encodes any text into \uXXXX escape sequences and decodes them back to human-readable characters. It handles the full Unicode range including Supplementary Multilingual Plane (SMP) characters like emoji, which use surrogate pairs (\uD800–\uDFFF) in UTF-16 encoding. Whether you need to embed special characters safely in source code, debug internationalized strings, or inspect raw Unicode values, this tool gives you instant bidirectional conversion.

How it works

Paste or type your text (or escape sequences) into the input area.
Choose Encode to convert characters to \uXXXX sequences, or Decode to convert sequences back to text.
For characters above U+FFFF (emoji, rare scripts), encoding uses surrogate pairs in \uHHHH\uHHHH format compatible with JavaScript strings.
The output appears instantly — copy it with the Copy button.
Use the Swap button to flip input and output for round-trip checks.

Use cases

Embed non-ASCII characters safely in JavaScript or JSON source files.
Decode \uXXXX sequences found in minified JS or API responses.
Debug internationalized strings and verify correct Unicode code points.
Encode emoji or special symbols for environments that do not support UTF-8 directly.
Convert Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Arabic text to escape sequences for ASCII-only storage.
Inspect surrogate pairs for characters outside the Basic Multilingual Plane.
Prepare strings for regular expressions that require escaped Unicode.
Audit third-party data for unexpected or malicious Unicode sequences.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-05-23 · Reviewed by Nham Vu