Programmers and students constantly move numbers between bases — decimal for humans, binary for hardware, hexadecimal for colours and memory addresses. The Number Base Converter takes a value in any common base and shows it simultaneously in binary, octal, decimal and hexadecimal, removing the mental arithmetic.
How to use the Number Base Converter
- Enter a number and tell the tool which base it is in.
- See it instantly expressed in all four bases.
- Copy whichever representation you need.
Why different bases exist
We count in base-10 because we have ten fingers, but computers are built from switches that are either on or off, which is base-2 (binary). Binary numbers get long quickly, so programmers use hexadecimal (base-16) as a compact shorthand — every hex digit stands for exactly four binary digits. Octal (base-8) is a similar shorthand from older systems. Being able to flip between them is fundamental to low-level programming, debugging, and understanding things like colour codes and file permissions.
Tips for base conversion
- Hex uses 0–9 then A–F for the values ten to fifteen.
- One hex digit equals four binary digits, which is why hex is so handy.
- Binary grows fast; the decimal 255 is 11111111 in binary but just FF in hex.
- Double-check the input base so the tool interprets your number correctly.
All conversion is done in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.
Quick reference
| Base | Value of 255 |
|---|---|
| Binary (2) | 11111111 |
| Octal (8) | 377 |
| Decimal (10) | 255 |
| Hex (16) | FF |
| Processing | Local |