Encoding
Rotate printable ASCII text by 47 positions
ROT47 rotates every printable ASCII character (letters, digits, and punctuation from ! to ~) by 47 positions inside that 94-character band. Forums and chat channels use it to hide answers that ROT13 cannot fully scramble, since ROT47 also shifts numbers and symbols: a becomes 2 and A becomes p. Characters below !, including spaces and line breaks, are left alone, and the output keeps the input's length. One pass both encodes and decodes because 47 is its own inverse.
How to use ROT47
- Open ROT47 in the Toolbox101 app.
- Paste the scrambled or plain text to rotate: for example
w6==@[ H@C=5P. - Read the shifted result in the
Outputbox, which updates as you type. - Click
Copyto take the decoded text elsewhere. - To restore the original, paste the output back into the
Inputbox: a second ROT47 pass reverses the first.
Worked example
ROT47 returns the output below for this input.
Input
Hello, world!Output
w6==@[ H@C=5PCheck it yourself: open ROT47 and enter the same input.
Frequently asked questions
What is ROT47 and where is it used?
ROT47 shifts every printable ASCII character from ! (code 33) through ~ (code 126) by 47 positions within that range, wrapping around at the edges. So a maps to 2. It is used to hide forum answers and spoilers that contain numbers or punctuation.
What is the difference between ROT47 and ROT13?
ROT13 moves only the 26 letters of the alphabet, so digits and punctuation survive unchanged. ROT47 rotates all 94 printable ASCII characters instead, which scrambles numbers and symbols too. Text that stays readable under ROT13 (like 123) turns into symbols under ROT47.
How do I decode ROT47 text?
Paste the garbled text into the Input box and copy the result. ROT47 is self-inverse, so the exact same transform that scrambled the text unscrambles it, and every character lands back in the printable range. If the output still looks odd, the text may predate ASCII or contain non-printable control characters.
Does ROT47 shift spaces and line breaks?
No. The rotation only touches characters in the printable band from ! to ~. Spaces, tabs, and newlines all sit below code 33, so they pass through unchanged and the output keeps its line structure: a multiline paste comes back with the same shape.