How Can You Tell If Something Is Morse Code?

Real Morse code uses exactly two signal lengths, with the long one about three times the short one, grouped into small clusters with regular gaps. If what you've found fits that pattern, it's probably Morse, and the tools below will tell you what it says.

The telltale signs

Two kinds of signal. Short and long. Three or more distinct lengths means it isn't standard Morse.
A 3 to 1 ratio. The international standard makes a dash three dots long. Hand-sent code wobbles, but the ratio roughly holds.
Small clusters. Letters use one to four symbols and numbers use five. A run of ten dots with no break isn't a letter.
Regular gaps. Short pauses inside a letter, longer ones between letters, longer still between words.
Lots of single symbols. E (.) and T (-) are among the most common letters in English, so real messages are full of them.

Common lookalikes

Looks like	How to tell
Tap code	Every knock is identical, and only the count matters. See tap code.
Binary	0s and 1s in fixed groups of eight, like `01001000`.
Braille	Raised dots in a fixed 2 by 3 cell, with no dashes.
Decoration	Dots and bars that don't decode into anything sensible.

How to test it

Written dots and dashes: paste them into the translator.
A photo of a bracelet, sign or screenshot: try the image decoder.
A recording of beeps: play it into the audio decoder.

If the result comes out as random letters, check the spacing first. A missing gap between two letters is the most common reason real Morse decodes as nonsense.