Letter to Number Converter

Turn letters into their place in the alphabet, A=1 to Z=26, or turn numbers back into letters. This is also the A1Z26 cipher used in puzzles and games.

LettersNumbers

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How to use the letter to number converter

Type a word or a message. The numbers appear as you type, with the letters of each word joined by dashes.
Press Copy to paste them anywhere.
To turn numbers into letters, press the arrows between the two labels and paste the numbers.

For example, I LOVE YOU becomes 9 12-15-22-5 25-15-21. Capital letters and lowercase give the same numbers, and numbers come back as lowercase letters.

Alphabet numbers chart

The number for every letter of the alphabet:

A to I: A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, E=5, F=6, G=7, H=8, I=9
J to R: J=10, K=11, L=12, M=13, N=14, O=15, P=16, Q=17, R=18
S to Z: S=19, T=20, U=21, V=22, W=23, X=24, Y=25, Z=26

A quick way to find a letter in the second half: M is 13, the middle of the alphabet, so N is 14 and Z is 26, twice 13.

Counting backward: Z=1

Some puzzles number the alphabet from the other end, with Z=1 and A=26. That is A1Z26 combined with the Atbash cipher, which reverses the alphabet. To decode one of those, convert the numbers to letters here, then paste the result into the Atbash translator.

Where letter numbers are used

Puzzles and escape rooms: A1Z26 is one of the first codes puzzle hunts use, because it is easy to spot once you know it.
Games and TV: Gravity Falls used it in its end credits, along with other classic ciphers.
Word sums: adding up the numbers of a word's letters is a common brain teaser. HELLO is 8 + 5 + 12 + 12 + 15 = 52.
Teaching: it is a simple first cipher for children learning the alphabet and number order.

For a cipher that shifts letters instead of numbering them, try the Caesar cipher decoder.

Frequently asked questions

What number is each letter in the alphabet?

A is 1, B is 2, C is 3 and so on to Z, which is 26. The full list is on this page: H is 8, M is 13, S is 19 and T is 20.

What is the A1Z26 cipher?

A1Z26 is the name puzzle makers give to swapping each letter for its number in the alphabet, from A=1 to Z=26. HELLO becomes 8-5-12-12-15. It has no key, so anyone who spots the pattern can read it.

How do I convert numbers back to letters?

Press the arrows between the two labels to switch direction, then paste the numbers. Separate the letters of a word with dashes, commas or spaces, and words with spaces. Numbers above 26 or below 1 are not letters, so they stay as numbers and a note lists them.

Why are the letters joined with dashes?

Without a separator, 1 2 and 12 look the same: 112 could be AAB, AL or KB. The converter joins the letters of a word with dashes, so 8-5-12-12-15 can only mean HELLO, and keeps spaces between words.

Was A1Z26 used in Gravity Falls?

Yes. The cryptograms in the end credits of Gravity Falls season one move through several ciphers, and A1Z26 is one of them, after the Caesar and Atbash ciphers. Paste a code from the credits to read it.

More translators and charts

Braille TranslatorEnglish to braille cells and back, with capitals, numbers and the braille alphabet chart.Caesar Cipher DecoderEncode with any shift, or decode without the key: all 25 shifts, most likely first.Vigenère CipherEncode and decode with a keyword, with a worked example and the Vigenère square.