Tool to decode/convert ASCII control characters (all invisible characters 0 to 31 or 00-1F) from ASCII table.
ASCII Control Characters - dCode
Tag(s) : Informatics, Substitution Cipher
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ASCII Control Characters
Convert from control characters
Control characters encoding
Answers to Questions (FAQ)
What is an ASCII control character? (Definition)
ASCII control characters are a range of characters (0 to 32 + 127) designated as control characters to command special actions, such as page layout (tab, new line, etc.), handling errors, information separators (beginning/end of transmission), or to manage certain peripherals (often printers or the bell). These characters are generally invisible (because they cannot be printed).
What is the list of ASCII control characters?
The ASCII table defines 34 control characters:
| Code | Abbrev. | Full name | Symbol |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | NUL | Null | ␀ |
| 1 | SOH | Start of Header | ␁ |
| 2 | STX | Start of Text | ␂ |
| 3 | ETX | End of Text | ␃ |
| 4 | EOT | End of Transmission | ␄ |
| 5 | ENQ | Enquiry | ␅ |
| 6 | ACK | Acknowledge | ␆ |
| 7 | BEL | Bell | ␇ |
| 8 | BS | BackSpace | ␈ |
| 9 | HT | Horizontal Tabulation | ␉ |
| 10 | LF | Line Feed/New Line | ␊ |
| 11 | VT | Vertical Tabulation | ␋ |
| 12 | FF | Form Feed/New Page | ␌ |
| 13 | CR | Carriage Return | ␍ |
| 14 | SO | Shift Out | ␎ |
| 15 | SI | Shift In | ␏ |
| 16 | DLE | Data Link Escape | ␐ |
| 17 | DC1 | Device Control 1 | ␑ |
| 18 | DC2 | Device Control 2 | ␒ |
| 19 | DC3 | Device Control 3 | ␓ |
| 20 | DC4 | Device Control 4 | ␔ |
| 21 | NAK | Negative Acknowledge | ␕ |
| 22 | SYN | Synchronous Idle | ␖ |
| 23 | ETB | End of Transmission Block | ␗ |
| 24 | CAN | Cancel | ␘ |
| 25 | EM | End of Medium | ␙ |
| 26 | SUB | Substitute | ␚ |
| 27 | ESC | Escape | ␛ |
| 28 | FS | File Separator | ␜ |
| 29 | GS | Group Separator | ␝ |
| 30 | RS | Record Separator | ␞ |
| 31 | US | Unit Separator | ␟ |
| 32 | SP | Space | ␠ |
| 127 | DEL | Delete | ␡ |
How to encrypt using control characters cipher?
It is possible to denote control characters with their abbreviated name or their unicode symbol.
Any number between 0 and 32 can thus be encoded.
Example: 0 1 2 3 becomes NUL SOH STX ETX
It is possible to encode letters with a code like A1Z26.
Example: ABCD becomes 1 2 3 4 which is coded SOH STX ETX EOT
Source code
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ASCII Control Characters on dCode.fr [online website], retrieved on 2025-04-08,
