Morse Code Alphabet — Complete A–Z Chart with Audio
The full International Morse Code alphabet — every letter A–Z, digit 0–9, and common punctuation — with real audio for each character, searchable views, and both alphabetical and code-order layouts.
Morse Code Alphabet — Interactive Chart
Click any card or row to hear the character played as audio.
What Is the Morse Code Alphabet?
The Morse code alphabet is the complete set of dot-and-dash patterns for every letter, number, and common punctuation mark used in International Morse Code. Unlike a standard written alphabet where all characters are equal in length, the Morse alphabet is deliberately uneven: the most common letters in English got the shortest patterns, and the rarest got the longest.
E, the most frequent letter in English, is a single dot — the fastest possible signal. Z, one of the rarest, takes four symbols. This frequency-based design is what made Morse code efficient enough to become the foundation of global telegraph and radio communication for over a century.
Shortest code
E = . (1 symbol)
All digits
Exactly 5 symbols each
Standard
ITU-R M.1677-1
Complete Morse Code Alphabet Chart
Letters A–Z
| A | .- |
| B | -... |
| C | -.-. |
| D | -.. |
| E | . |
| F | ..-. |
| G | --. |
| H | .... |
| I | .. |
| J | .--- |
| K | -.- |
| L | .-.. |
| M | -- |
| N | -. |
| O | --- |
| P | .--. |
| Q | --.- |
| R | .-. |
| S | ... |
| T | - |
| U | ..- |
| V | ...- |
| W | .-- |
| X | -..- |
| Y | -.-- |
| Z | --.. |
Numbers 0–9
| 0 | ----- |
| 1 | .---- |
| 2 | ..--- |
| 3 | ...-- |
| 4 | ....- |
| 5 | ..... |
| 6 | -.... |
| 7 | --... |
| 8 | ---.. |
| 9 | ----. |
Punctuation
| . | .-.-.- |
| , | --..-- |
| ? | ..--.. |
| ! | -.-.-- |
| / | -..-. |
| + | .-.-. |
| - | -....- |
| = | -...- |
| @ | .--.-. |
Code-Order (for learning)
| E | . | 1 sym |
| T | - | 1 sym |
| I | .. | 2 sym |
| M | -- | 2 sym |
| S | ... | 3 sym |
| O | --- | 3 sym |
| H | .... | 4 sym |
| N | -. | 2 sym |
| A | .- | 2 sym |
| G | --. | 3 sym |
| U | ..- | 3 sym |
| Z | --.. | 4 sym |
| V | ...- | 4 sym |
| Q | --.- | 4 sym |
| W | .-- | 3 sym |
| D | -.. | 3 sym |
| J | .--- | 4 sym |
| B | -... | 4 sym |
| R | .-. | 3 sym |
| K | -.- | 3 sym |
| L | .-.. | 4 sym |
| C | -.-. | 4 sym |
| F | ..-. | 4 sym |
| Y | -.-- | 4 sym |
| P | .--. | 4 sym |
| X | -..- | 4 sym |
Alphabetical vs. Code-Order — Which to Use?
Alphabetical (A–Z)
Best for looking up a specific character quickly. If you know the letter you want, alphabetical order gets you there fast. Most printed cheat sheets use this layout.
Code-Order
Best for learning. It groups characters by the length and shape of their Morse pattern — E and T first (one symbol each), then two-symbol letters, and so on. This matches the Koch method's progression exactly and is the layout the Radio Society of Great Britain uses on its reference cards.
Why the Morse Code Alphabet Is Designed the Way It Is
When Alfred Vail and Samuel Morse were refining the code in the 1830s and 40s, Vail famously visited a local print shop to count how many individual metal type letters were stored for each character — a direct measure of how often each letter appeared in print. The most common letters got the shortest codes; rarer ones got longer ones.
The version we use today — International Morse Code, standardized in 1851 — refined and cleaned up the original American Morse Code to make timing more consistent across different languages and transmission systems. That 1851 standard, updated to the current ITU-R M.1677-1 recommendation, is what every character in the chart above follows.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Morse code alphabet?▼
The complete set of dot-and-dash patterns for every letter A–Z, digit 0–9, and common punctuation in International Morse Code (ITU-R M.1677-1).
How many letters are in the Morse code alphabet?▼
26 letters (A–Z), 10 digits (0–9), and a range of punctuation. No uppercase/lowercase distinction — all letters are treated the same.
What is the difference between alphabetical and code-order?▼
Alphabetical (A–Z) is best for looking up a specific letter. Code-order lists characters from simplest to most complex Morse pattern — better for learning, and used by the Radio Society of Great Britain and the Koch method.
Is the Morse code alphabet the same worldwide?▼
Yes. The International Morse Code standard (ITU-R M.1677-1) is used globally and replaced earlier regional variants like original American Morse Code.
Why do some letters have shorter Morse codes than others?▼
Alfred Vail assigned shorter codes to the most common English letters to make transmission faster. E is one dot; rarer letters like Q and Z have four-symbol codes.
What is the full Morse code alphabet in order?▼
A=.- B=-... C=-.-. D=-.. E=. F=..-. G=--. H=.... I=.. J=.--- K=-.- L=.-.. M=-- N=-. O=--- P=.--. Q=--.- R=.-. S=... T=- U=..- V=...- W=.-- X=-..- Y=-.-- Z=--..