SOS in Morse Code
SOS has three dots, three dashes and three dots: “... --- ...”. This page starts with SOS in the box and continuous-prosign playback selected, so the nine marks have one-unit gaps throughout. Hear the pattern at four speeds or download a WAV; turning off the prosign option adds the usual three-unit gaps between the letters.
- Direction
- Speed
The nine marks have only one-unit gaps.
The international Morse alphabet
Click a character to add its text or code in the selected direction. Download all 54 reference rows as a printable PDF or CSV.
The player creates tones from text or pasted Morse. To decode a recording, microphone, image, or flashing light, a signal decoder is needed.
Common questions
- What is SOS in Morse code?
- The nine marks are ...---...: three dots, three dashes, three dots. Text charts often write ... --- ... to show the familiar letters, while a continuous prosign joins them into one signal. There are six dots and three dashes in total.
- How is the sound on this page timed?
- With continuous-prosign playback selected, every gap inside the nine-mark signal is one dot unit. A dot is one unit and a dash is three. Turning that option off plays the three separate letters S, O and S with three-unit letter gaps.
- Can I download the SOS sound?
- Press Download WAV. The file uses the current speed and continuous-prosign choice. The copied translation remains the readable ... --- ... text.
- Does SOS stand for save our souls?
- Those words are a later mnemonic. SOS identifies the recognizable dot-dash pattern rather than an original phrase abbreviation.
- Does this translate blinking or tapping?
- This page displays the pattern and creates its sound. It does not read a camera, detect flashes, or measure live taps. Those inputs need separate timing and signal-detection workflows.
Exact for the displayed international Morse letters and digits, with 18 supported punctuation entries. Audio plays at the speed you set with standard PARIS timing: a dot is one unit, a dash three, and the gaps inside a letter, between letters and between words are one, three and seven units. Characters with no agreed Morse equivalent are reported rather than approximated.