Hi in Binary
"hi" in binary is 01101000 01101001
2 bytes, 16 bits, one 8-bit ASCII code per character.
The word “hi” in lowercase binary is:
01101000 01101001
Two letters, two 8-bit bytes, sixteen digits. It’s about the shortest real message binary can carry, and that brevity is exactly what makes it interesting.
Look closely at the two bytes. They’re identical except for the very last digit. That’s because h and i sit next to each other in the alphabet, and ASCII stores the alphabet as consecutive numbers: h is code 104, i is code 105, one apart. Two adjacent letters, one flipped bit. No other common word shows off the structure of ASCII this cleanly, which is why “hi” is the example this site uses in its own how to read binary tutorial. If you’ve never decoded anything by hand, these sixteen digits are the ideal first attempt: short enough to finish in two minutes, real enough to prove the method works.
It’s also the practical choice when space is tight. Sixteen digits fit where longer phrases won’t: a username field, the back of a watch, a sticky note on a monitor. People use it as a low-key nerd handshake in bios and signatures, a greeting that costs two seconds for the right reader and stops everyone else cold.
Capitalized “Hi” swaps the first byte for 01001000, capital H’s code. The byte-by-byte table is below. When two letters feel too easy, graduate to hello in binary, or find something longer at words in binary.
Byte by byte
| Character | Decimal | Binary |
|---|---|---|
| h | 104 | 01101000 |
| i | 105 | 01101001 |
The same phrase in hex and decimal
Binary is not the only way to write the bytes. In hexadecimal, "hi" is:
68 69
And as decimal byte values:
104 105
More words in binary
Browse the full collection at words in binary, or convert any text to binary with the translator.
FAQ
What is hi in binary?
Lowercase “hi” is 01101000 01101001: the byte for h followed by the byte for i, sixteen digits in total. Each byte is the letter’s ASCII code written in base 2. Capitalize it and only the first byte changes, because uppercase H has its own separate code.
Why do the two bytes look almost identical?
Because h and i are alphabet neighbors and ASCII numbers the alphabet consecutively. Their codes are 104 and 105, exactly one apart, so their binary forms differ only in the final digit, the ones place. It’s the clearest tiny example of how ASCII is organized.
How do I decode hi from binary by hand?
Split the sixteen digits into two groups of eight. For each group, add the place values (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128) wherever a 1 appears, then look the total up in an ASCII table. The step-by-step tutorial uses this exact word as its worked example.
How many bits is hi in binary?
Sixteen: two characters at eight bits each. In ASCII every character takes exactly one byte, so a message’s bit count is always its character count times eight. That fixed width is what lets you know a message’s length before decoding a single byte.