Unicode is an international standard for encoding, representing, and handling text. It assigns a unique code point (e.g., U+0041 for 'A') to every character in every language. UTF-8 and UTF-16 are the most common encodings that implement the Unicode standard.

What is GSM-7 encoding for SMS?

GSM-7 is the default character encoding for SMS messages. It supports 128 characters (the standard Latin alphabet plus symbols) and allows a single SMS to contain up to 160 characters. If your message contains characters outside the GSM-7 set (like emojis or Arabic), the SMS switches to UCS-2 encoding.

Why do emojis make my SMS shorter?

When an SMS contains any non-GSM-7 character (such as an emoji or accented letter outside the GSM-7 set), the entire message switches to UCS-2 (16-bit Unicode) encoding, which reduces the maximum characters per SMS segment from 160 to 70.

What is a Unicode escape sequence?

A Unicode escape sequence is a way to represent a Unicode character using ASCII text. In JavaScript, it is written as \uXXXX (e.g., \u0041 for 'A'). In Python, it is \uXXXX or \UXXXXXXXX for characters outside the Basic Multilingual Plane.

ToolsText to Unicode Converter

Text to Unicode Converter

Convert text to Unicode escape sequences or decode Unicode back to text instantly.

Raw TextText

Hello world! 😊

UCS-2Non-GSM detected

Chars:15 / 70

Segments:1

Analysis & Conversion

Type something to see the Unicode analysis.

How to use Text to Unicode Converter?

1
Enter or paste any text into the input area.
2
The tool instantly converts the text into various Unicode formats (Hex \uXXXX, U+XXXX, HTML Entities).
3
View the SMS Analysis banner to see how many SMS segments your text will require.
4
Easily spot non-GSM characters that reduce your SMS length limit from 160 to 70 characters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did my SMS length limit drop to 70 characters?

Standard SMS uses GSM-7 encoding, which supports 160 characters per message but is limited to basic English letters and a few symbols. If your text includes even one non-GSM character (like Thai letters, emojis, or smart quotes), the entire message is forced into UCS-2 (Unicode) encoding, which has a limit of 70 characters per message.

What is Unicode?

Unicode is a universal character encoding standard that assigns a unique number (code point) to every character, no matter what platform, program, or language is used.

Does it support emojis?

Yes, our converter fully supports emojis and complex multi-byte characters, converting them accurately into their respective surrogate pairs or code points.

The Ultimate Text to Unicode & SMS Analysis Tool

Behind every character you type on a screen—whether it's an English letter, a Thai consonant, or a modern emoji—is a unique numerical value defined by the Unicode standard. Unicode ensures that computers, smartphones, and servers worldwide can consistently interpret and display text without language barriers.

However, when dealing with SMS gateways, telecommunications, or low-level programming tasks, simply sending raw characters isn't always enough. You often need to know exactly how your text will be encoded, how many segments it will consume, and how to safely escape it.

Deep-Dive into SMS Segmentation & Encoding

One of the most complex challenges in modern telecommunications is predicting SMS lengths. Standard SMS messages use GSM-7 encoding, which allows up to 160 characters per message. However, the GSM-7 character set is extremely limited—it primarily supports basic Latin characters and a few symbols.

If you include even one non-GSM character in your message (such as Thai characters, smart quotes, or emojis), the entire message is forced to use UCS-2 (Unicode) encoding. UCS-2 requires more data per character, which slashes your maximum SMS segment limit from 160 characters down to just 70 characters.

Our built-in SMS Analyzer does the heavy lifting for you by:

Detecting Encoding Instantly: Live-checking if your text fits into GSM-7 or requires UCS-2.
Highlighting Non-GSM Characters: Pinpointing exactly which characters are causing your message to drop to the 70-character limit.
Previewing SMS Parts: Showing you precisely how the telecommunications provider will split your long message into multiple segments (Parts 1, 2, 3, etc.) before you send it out.

Why Convert Text to Unicode?

SMS & Message Gateways: When sending automated SMS via APIs (like Twilio), special characters or non-ASCII languages (like Thai or Arabic) must often be Unicode-escaped to ensure they are delivered without turning into garbled question marks.
Software Development: Hardcoding strings in source code (Java, C++, JavaScript) sometimes requires Unicode escapes (\\uXXXX) to prevent compiler errors related to file encoding mismatches.
Debugging Encoding Issues: If you're investigating "mojibake" (garbled text on a website), inspecting the raw Unicode values of the characters can help identify where the encoding pipeline failed.

Our tool works entirely in your browser. It safely translates any string, including complex multi-byte emojis, into standard Unicode escape sequences and provides precise SMS segment analytics instantly.