Punycode Converter
This free Punycode converter turns domain names with accents or non-Latin letters into their xn-- form and back again, a line at a time, and warns you when a name mixes alphabets in a way that could be a look-alike.
Converted in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to us. This tool does not apply the full IDNA2008 / UTS #46 mapping, and a registry may refuse some characters it accepts.
Free, no signup.
What is Punycode?
The domain name system only understands a small set of characters: letters a to z, digits and the hyphen. Punycode is the standard way (RFC 3492) of writing any other letter using only those. München becomes mnchen-3ya, and a label that has been encoded gets the prefix xn-- so software knows to decode it.
Your browser does this for you. You type münchen.de, the address bar shows münchen.de, and the lookup goes out as xn--mnchen-3ya.de. The technical name for the whole system is IDN, short for internationalised domain names.
When you need the xn-- form
Anything that talks to DNS directly wants the ASCII form: zone files, DNS records, SSL certificate requests, mail server settings, redirects and config files. Registrars usually accept the Unicode form in a search box but show the xn-- form in your DNS panel.
The reverse is just as common. A log line, a certificate or a DNS export shows xn--r8jz45g.xn--zckzah and you want to know what it says. Paste it in, pick To Unicode, and read the real name.
Look-alike domains and how to spot them
Some letters in different alphabets look identical. A Cyrillic а is not the same character as a Latin a, but in most fonts you cannot tell them apart. Attackers register names like pаypal.com that use one of these swaps, then send people there. This is called a homograph attack.
The converter checks each label for letters from more than one script and flags a mix such as Latin plus Cyrillic. Digits and hyphens do not count. A warning is not proof of fraud, since some real names mix scripts, but a name that arrives in an email and trips this check deserves a second look. If a name is shown to you as xn--, treat it with care too.
Limits of this converter
Names are lower-cased and normalised with Unicode compatibility folding, so full-width letters become plain ones, and the dots 。 ． and ｡ are read as ordinary dots. Each label is checked for length (63 characters in ASCII form, 253 for the whole name), stray hyphens and empty labels.
We do not apply the full IDNA2008 rules or the UTS #46 mapping table that browsers use. Registries also publish their own lists of allowed characters, so a registry can refuse a name this tool happily converts. Use the result as a check, and let your registrar have the final say.
Frequently asked questions
What does xn-- mean in a domain name?
It marks a label written in Punycode. The part after xn-- is a plain-ASCII encoding of the original letters, which software can turn back into the name you see in your browser.
Does the converter work for the whole domain or only one label?
The whole domain. It splits the name at the dots, encodes only the labels that contain non-ASCII letters, and leaves the rest alone, so münchen.de becomes xn--mnchen-3ya.de.
Why does my domain show a warning about mixed scripts?
One of its labels uses letters from two or more alphabets, such as Latin and Cyrillic. That is how look-alike domains are built, so the tool flags it. Check each character if you did not type the name yourself.
Can I convert many domains at once?
Yes. Put one name on each line, up to 100 lines. Each line is converted on its own, and a bad line shows an error in its row without stopping the others.
Why was my xn-- name rejected as invalid?
The text after xn-- has to decode to real characters and encode back to exactly the same string. Typos, missing characters and made-up labels fail that check. The Note column says what went wrong.
Are emoji allowed in domain names?
The converter will encode them, so 😀.com becomes xn--e28h.com. Many registries and most TLDs do not let you register such names, though, so check with your registrar first.
Is the domain I type sent anywhere?
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser, and nothing you enter is uploaded or stored. Only the first line is added to the page address so you can share a link.
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