Morse Code Numbers

Morse code numbers 0 to 9 follow one pattern

Letters have codes of 1 to 4 symbols, chosen so the common ones are short. Numbers are different: all ten have exactly 5 symbols, and they are built by rule. From 1 to 5, the dots grow from the left and push the dashes out. From 6 to 0, the dashes take their place in the same way.

So you can work out any digit without a chart. For 1 to 5, the number tells you how many dots come first; fill the rest of the five with dashes. For 6 to 9, take away 5 and that many dashes come first; fill the rest with dots. 0 comes after 9 and is five dashes.

The pairs mirror each other: 1 and 6 swap every dot for a dash and every dash for a dot, and so do 2 and 7, 3 and 8, 4 and 9, and 5 and 0. Learn 1 to 5 and you know the other half:

• 1: .---- (one dot, four dashes)
• 2: ..--- (two dots, three dashes)
• 3: ...-- (three dots, two dashes)
• 4: ....- (four dots, one dash)
• 5: ..... (five dots)
• 6: -.... (one dash, four dots)
• 7: --... (two dashes, three dots)
• 8: ---.. (three dashes, two dots)
• 9: ----. (four dashes, one dot)
• 0: ----- (five dashes)

Numbers are sent digit by digit

Morse code has no code for ten, a hundred or a thousand. A number is sent one digit at a time, with the usual letter gap between digits. 10 is .---- ----- and 100 is .---- ----- ----- (three codes). A year such as 2026 is four codes: ..--- ----- ..--- -....

That makes numbers slow. A dot lasts 1 unit and a dash 3, so a 0 takes 19 units where the letter T takes 3. At 20 WPM, 100 takes about 3.7 seconds to send. Spelling a small number can be quicker: TEN is - . -. and takes 15 units, while 10 takes 39.

To turn a longer number into code, such as a date or a phone number, type it into the Morse code translator. It splits digits with spaces and groups with a slash. To read numbers someone sent you, paste the code into the Morse code decoder.

How to read the Morse code numbers 1 to 100 table

Each row shows a number and its code. Numbers from 1 to 9 have one group of five symbols, numbers from 10 to 99 have two groups, and 100 has three. The space between groups is the letter gap: leave a short pause there when you tap or flash a number.

The table follows the same pattern as the digits, so it repeats in steps you can see. Every number from 10 to 19 starts with .----, every number in the 20s starts with ..---, and so on. Every round ten, from 10 to 90, ends with -----. Press any row to hear it.

Cut numbers: short forms used in radio contests

Five symbols for every digit is slow, so radio operators shorten some digits to a letter that starts the same way. These are called cut numbers. The most common are T for 0 and N for 9. In a contest you will often hear 5NN for the signal report 599.

Cut numbers only work when both sides know a number is coming, such as a signal report, a zone number or a power level in a contest exchange. Saving a second or two on each contact adds up for a station making hundreds of contacts in a day. In ordinary text, a T is a T.

4 and 6 are usually sent in full, and 7 has no letter everyone agrees on. Sources also list other sets, so operators who aren't sure keep to full numbers. The charts on this page use the full codes. The common cut numbers:

• A for 1: .- instead of .----
• U for 2: ..- instead of ..---
• V for 3: ...- instead of ...--
• E for 5: . instead of .....
• D for 8: -.. instead of ---..
• N for 9: -. instead of ----.
• T for 0: - instead of -----

73, 88 and 143: numbers with a meaning

73 means best regards. Operators send it at the end of a contact. 88 means love and kisses. Both come from the 92 Code, a list of numbered phrases that Western Union adopted in 1859 so telegraph operators could send common messages in a few digits. Radio amateurs kept these two.

143 is a pager code, not a radio one: I has 1 letter, love has 4 and you has 3. In Morse code it is .---- ....- ...--, which takes longer than sending ILY. See I love you in Morse code for that message and its short forms.

Learn the numbers by ear

Counting dots and dashes works at a slow speed, but at 20 WPM a digit is over in a second or less. Operators learn each number as a sound: 5 is a fast di-di-di-di-dit and 0 is a long dah-dah-dah-dah-dah. The trainer on learn Morse code mixes all ten digits in with the letters, in the order of the Koch method.