Encode Text to Punycode

Convert Unicode text or Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) into ASCII-compatible Punycode.

Handles labels separated by dots (e.g. xn--...)

IDN Support

Fully supports RFC 3492 for Internationalized Domain Names in Applications (IDNA).

Private & Secure

Processing happens entirely on your device. Your data is never sent to any server.

Instant Encoding

Real-time Punycode conversion as you type, optimized for speed and accuracy.

Try These Examples

German Domain (München)

Encode German umlaut characters in a domain name

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French Domain (Café)

Convert accented French domain to Punycode

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Chinese Domain

Encode Chinese characters to Punycode format

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Japanese Domain

Convert a Japanese domain to Punycode format

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Russian Domain

Encode Cyrillic characters in a domain name

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Swedish Domain

Convert Scandinavian characters to Punycode

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The Ultimate Guide to Punycode Encoding

What is Punycode?

Punycode is a special encoding method used to represent Unicode characters using only the limited ASCII character set (A-Z, 0-9, and hyphens). This is primarily used for Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs).

Because the Domain Name System (DNS) historically only supported ASCII, Punycode allows web addresses like münchen.de to be understood by browsers and servers as xn--mnchen-3ya.de.

Why Encode to Punycode?

  • Domain Registration: Many registrars require the Punycode version of a domain for technical configuration.
  • Server Config: Web servers (like Nginx or Apache) often use Punycode in their configuration files for IDNs.
  • Compatibility: Ensure your international links work correctly across all legacy email clients and web systems.
  • Developer Testing: Debug how your application handles non-ASCII characters in URLs and network requests.

Understanding the "xn--" Prefix

When you encode a domain name, you will notice it starts with xn--. This is known as the ACE prefix (ASCII Compatible Encoding). It signals to the system that the following string is a Punycode representation of a Unicode string.

Unicode Example

café.com

Punycode (ACE) Result

xn--caf-dma.com