Reading an escaped JSON string
A strict serialiser escapes non-ASCII characters. Unescaping shows the real accented or emoji content.
Unicode Unescape
Convert Unicode escape sequences back into readable characters in your browser.
Maintained by Roshan.
Use Unicode Unescape
Converts escaped text to text in this tab, with nothing sent anywhere.
Runs entirely on your deviceThe conversion happens in this browser tab. Nothing you type is uploaded, logged or stored, which is worth knowing for anything you would not paste into a search box.
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Browse all developer and data toolsAbout Unicode Unescape
Unescaping reverses the process: it takes text peppered with backslash-u codes and turns them back into the characters they represent, so an accented word or an emoji stored as an escape sequence reads normally again. You meet escaped text wherever a file or a stream had to stay ASCII - JSON that a strict serialiser produced, a log line, a translation file, a value copied out of source code. Reading it in escaped form is nearly impossible past a word or two. This tool recognises both the standard four-hex-digit form and the brace form used for characters above the basic plane, converting each back to its real character, while leaving everything that is not an escape sequence exactly as it is.
Using Unicode Unescape
- Four-hex-digit escapes are recognised and replaced with the character at that code point.
- Brace-form escapes, which hold the longer code points of characters above the basic plane, are converted the same way.
- Both forms are handled in one pass, so a mixture of ordinary and high characters unescapes together.
- Text that is not an escape sequence is passed through unchanged.
- The result is the readable text the escapes were standing in for.
Where unicode unescape helps
Recovering text from source code
A string literal written with escapes converts back to what it actually contains.
Before you use the result
- It recognises the common backslash-u form, including braces. A different escape syntax from another language may not be handled.
- A malformed escape - too few digits, a missing brace - may be left as written rather than guessed.
- It does not decode other escape kinds such as HTML entities or URL percent-encoding; those have their own tools.
- Running it on text with no escapes is harmless and changes nothing.
- This reverses escaping; it is not decryption.
Questions about Unicode Unescape
Does it handle emoji escapes?
Yes. Both the four-digit form and the brace form for high code points are converted.
What if an escape is malformed?
It may be left as written rather than guessed at, since an incomplete escape is ambiguous.
Does it decode HTML entities too?
No. Those are a different scheme with their own decoder. This handles backslash-u escapes.
Is it safe on unescaped text?
Yes. With no escapes present, nothing changes.
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