ROT13 to Text

Reverse the ROT13 transformation to reveal the original message

Rotated Input

Original Text

Reversing a ROT13 message

ROT13 is a very simple substitution cipher: every letter is replaced by the letter thirteen places further along the alphabet, so A becomes N and N becomes A. It is not real encryption, but it has long been used online to hide spoilers, puzzle answers and punchlines from a casual glance. If you have text like Uryyb, Jrypbzr and want to read it, this tool restores the original in one click.

How to use it

Paste the scrambled text into the Rotated Input box.
Click Decode ROT13.
The Original Text card appears with the plain message.
Press Copy Text to copy it. Editing the input hides the previous result until you decode again.

Why it works with a single button

The English alphabet has 26 letters, so shifting by 13 twice returns you to the start. Decoding and encoding are therefore the same operation, and the transformation is its own inverse. If you paste plain text into this tool, you will get the ROT13 version back instead.

What is and is not changed

Uppercase and lowercase letters A to Z are rotated, and their case is preserved.
Digits, spaces, punctuation and line breaks stay exactly as they were.
Accented letters and characters from other alphabets are not rotated, since ROT13 is defined only for the basic Latin alphabet.

Typical uses

Reading a spoiler or a joke answer posted in ROT13 on a forum or newsgroup.
Solving geocaching hints, which are traditionally written in ROT13.
Practising simple ciphers in a classroom or a puzzle contest.
Creating a light obfuscation for text you do not want read by accident, by pasting plain text and using the output.

Cautions

Do not use ROT13 to protect anything sensitive. Anyone can reverse it in seconds, and there is no key. Text that was shifted by a different amount, such as a Caesar cipher with a shift of three, will not be solved by this page because it only applies a fixed shift of thirteen. Numbers are not scrambled, so a code that mixes digits and letters will only reveal its letters. There is no download button on this page, so use Copy Text to keep the result. The operation happens in JavaScript in your browser page.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is decoding ROT13 different from encoding it?

No. With 26 letters in the alphabet, a shift of 13 applied twice gets you back to the start, so the same operation encodes and decodes. Pasting normal text into this tool returns its ROT13 version.

Are numbers and punctuation changed?

No. Only the letters A to Z, in either case, are rotated. Digits, spaces, punctuation and line breaks are left untouched, which means a code containing numbers will still show those numbers unchanged.

Can this solve other Caesar ciphers?

Not unless they use a shift of exactly 13. The tool has no option to choose a different shift, so text scrambled with another rotation will still look like nonsense after decoding.

Is ROT13 secure enough to hide passwords?

No. ROT13 has no key and can be reversed by anyone in seconds. It is only meant for light obscuring, such as spoilers or puzzle answers. Use proper encryption for anything private.

Does it work with accented or non-English letters?

Only for the basic Latin alphabet. Characters such as e with an accent, Cyrillic or Greek letters are not rotated and pass through unchanged, so mixed text will be only partly decoded.