Unicode to GSM character converter
This tool checks a text for Unicode characters and replaces them with corresponding GSM character
Replace Unicode (non GSM) characters
How to Use Unicode Character Replacement Tool
You can check to see if a text message has Unicode characters and replace them with letters from the GSM alphabet. This will save you money on the cost of sending an SMS. Here's how to use our tool to replace Unicode text:
- Step 1: Enter the text message or copy/paste it in the box above.
-
Step 2: Select which Unicode characters you want to be replaced if they are found in the text. If "All non-GSM" is selected, then all Unicode characters that are not present in the GSM alphabet (standard and extended) will be replaced. This include special characters (
© « ± ¢), emojis, cyrillic, arabic, accents, etc.
Alternatively you can select to replace only specific language alphabet, like Cyrillic, Polish, Greek, Turkish, Romanian. - Step 3: Click the "Convert" button and on the next page you will see: the original text, the converted text with replaced characters. The summary of the conversion gives information about how many characters and SMS message parts were saved, the cost of sending an SMS before and after the Unicode to GSM conversion. A list with the replaced Unicode characters and their occurrences is also shown.
Why you should use the Unicode to GSM character converter
As you already know, text messages are restricted to 160 characters per SMS part assuming they are all from the GSM character set (standard and extended). In any case, in the event that your text contains Unicode characters (emojis, symbols, different languages characters), it will be restricted to 70 characters per SMS part rather than 160.
Obviously, messages longer than 70 characters can be sent, however they will be sent as long concatenated SMS. This implies that a 160-character SMS message will be split into three message parts assuming they have Unicode characters. This can be very disappointing. What is considerably more disappointing is the point at which your client's mobile handset crashes because of the Unicode character strings not being decoded correctly(this has really occurred on a few events).
By utilizing the Unicode character finder and replacement, you can identify the characters that are not part of the 7-bit GSM character set to avoid the splitting of the SMS in multiple parts, thus saving money with the SMS campaigns. The non-GSM characters are automatically replaced by the Unicode character replacement tool.
How does Unicode to GSM replacement work?
The Unicode to GSM character replacement is done using a procedure called transliteration.
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that requires swapping letters in predictable ways, such as Cyrillic ⟨и⟩ → ⟨i⟩, Greek ⟨ε⟩ → ⟨e⟩, Polish ⟨ą⟩ → ⟨a⟩, and so on.See other tools:
- Bulk phone number list validator - process a list of contact and validate, clean (remove invalid, duplicates), convert to E.164 format and estimate cost of sending an SMS
- Validate single phone number - check if a number is a valid mobile phone
- SMS length calculator - enter a text message and calculate the number of message parts, characters, detect and show Unicode characters, estimate cost of sending an SMS
Privacy Note
This online tool does not store any information about you and it does not store any of the text that is written, pasted or submitted into the box above.