Spell anything in the NATO phonetic alphabet
This NATO phonetic alphabet converter spells your text as code words — AB1 becomes Alpha Bravo One — so letters cannot be misheard on a bad phone line, a radio or a noisy shop floor. Digits and common punctuation get spoken names too, and the same text can be spelled with the US police, WWII Allied or German spelling alphabets.
It is useful whenever a reference must be read out exactly: booking codes, flight numbers, postcodes, serial numbers, email addresses, licence plates and names with unusual spellings. Call-centre staff, pilots and student pilots, radio amateurs, security staff and anyone dictating a password-reset code use it daily. A reverse mode turns code words back into text, and a printable chart can go on the wall next to the phone.
Conversion happens in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.
How to use the NATO Phonetic Alphabet Converter
- Type or paste your text into Text to spell.
- Pick a Spelling alphabet. NATO/ICAO is the international standard; the others are for specific audiences.
- Optionally tick Official ICAO spelling (Alfa, Juliett) and Radio digits (Tree, Fower, Fife, Niner), and choose what goes Between words.
- Read the result and the letter cards, then press Copy. Use Decode it back to check it.
- Open Printable chart, choose paper and orientation, and press Print chart, Download PDF or Download PNG.
NATO Phonetic Alphabet Converter features
Letters, digits and punctuation
A–Z, 0–9 and symbols such as @, /, - and . are spelled out; accented letters are spelled as their base letter (German keeps Ä, Ö, Ü and ß).
Four spelling alphabets
NATO/ICAO, the APCO police alphabet used by many US agencies, the 1943 Allied alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie…) and Germany’s DIN 5009 city alphabet from 2022.
ICAO details
Switch to the official spellings Alfa and Juliett and to radio-style digits, as used in aviation and maritime radio.
Reverse decoding
Paste code words in any of the alphabets — capitals or not — and get the text back; unknown words are marked with “?”.
Printable chart
An A4 or US Letter chart in portrait or landscape with ICAO pronunciations, as a print, a PDF or a PNG.
The NATO phonetic alphabet with pronunciation
The International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet was adopted by ICAO in 1956 and by NATO soon after. Words were chosen to be recognisable by speakers of English, French and Spanish. The capitals show the stressed syllable as ICAO publishes it.
| Letter | Code word | Say it | Letter | Code word | Say it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Alfa | AL-FAH | N | November | NO-VEM-BER |
| B | Bravo | BRAH-VOH | O | Oscar | OSS-CAH |
| C | Charlie | CHAR-LEE | P | Papa | PAH-PAH |
| D | Delta | DELL-TAH | Q | Quebec | KEH-BECK |
| E | Echo | ECK-OH | R | Romeo | ROW-ME-OH |
| F | Foxtrot | FOKS-TROT | S | Sierra | SEE-AIR-RAH |
| G | Golf | GOLF | T | Tango | TANG-GO |
| H | Hotel | HOH-TEL | U | Uniform | YOU-NEE-FORM |
| I | India | IN-DEE-AH | V | Victor | VIK-TAH |
| J | Juliett | JEW-LEE-ETT | W | Whiskey | WISS-KEY |
| K | Kilo | KEY-LOH | X | X-ray | ECKS-RAY |
| L | Lima | LEE-MAH | Y | Yankee | YANG-KEY |
| M | Mike | MIKE | Z | Zulu | ZOO-LOO |
Tips for reading codes aloud
- Say “Alpha” and “Juliet” in everyday use; the ICAO spellings exist so French speakers do not drop the final letters.
- Read digits one by one (“two zero seven”, not “two hundred and seven”) and group long numbers in threes or fours.
- Pause at word breaks and say “space” or “break”, or spell each word as a separate group.
- In India the NATO alphabet is standard in aviation, defence and most call centres, so it is the safest choice for customers worldwide.
- For Morse code use the Morse Code Translator; for real pronunciation symbols use the IPA Phonetic Converter.
NATO Phonetic Alphabet Converter FAQ
What is the NATO phonetic alphabet?
A set of 26 code words — Alfa, Bravo, Charlie to Zulu — that stand for the letters of the alphabet so they can be spelled clearly over radio or phone. It is officially called the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet.
Is it “Alpha” or “Alfa”?
ICAO and NATO officially write Alfa and Juliett, but Alpha and Juliet are common in everyday use. Both are understood; tick the ICAO option to use the official spelling.
Why do pilots say “niner”?
In radio procedure “niner” keeps 9 from being confused with the German “nein”, and “tree”, “fower” and “fife” are clearer than “three”, “four” and “five” on poor lines.
Can I convert the phonetic alphabet back to text?
Yes. Choose “Code words → text”, paste the words and the decoder rebuilds the text from any of the four alphabets.
Is the chart free to print?
Yes. Print it or download it as PDF or PNG in A4 or US Letter, portrait or landscape.