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8-Bit Hexadecimal Converter

Hex to Binary Byte Converter

Convert one hexadecimal byte into its exact 8-bit binary representation. Enter two hexadecimal digits such as FF, A5, 2C or 0x80 and see the high nibble, low nibble, decimal value and all eight bits.

Exact byte width Output always contains exactly eight binary bits.

Two nibble breakdown See how each hexadecimal digit creates four bits.

Leading zeros retained 01 becomes 00000001, not simply 1.

Byte value shown View the equivalent unsigned decimal value from 0 to 255.

Hex Byte Converter

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ENTER ONE HEX BYTE

Enter exactly 2 hex digits · 00–FF · optional 0x prefix

8-BIT BINARY BYTE BASE 2

10100101

HIGH NIBBLE A → 1010

LOW NIBBLE 5 → 0101

A5₁₆ = 1010 0101₂ = 165₁₀

8-BIT BYTE BREAKDOWN Bit 7 = MSB · Bit 0 = LSB

BIT 7 1

BIT 6 0

BIT 5 1

BIT 4 0

BIT 3 0

BIT 2 1

BIT 1 0

BIT 0 1

TRY A BYTE

BYTE SUMMARY

HEX A5

DECIMAL 165

NIBBLES 2

BIT WIDTH 8 bits

Byte Size Exactly 8 bits

Hex Size Exactly 2 digits

Unsigned Range 0 through 255

Nibble Count 2 nibbles per byte

Example A5 = 10100101

Hex to Binary Byte Converter

The Hex to Binary Byte Converter converts exactly one hexadecimal byte into its complete eight-bit binary representation. Enter two hexadecimal digits from 00 through FF and the calculator returns all eight binary bits while preserving any leading zeros required by the byte.

Because one hexadecimal digit represents four bits, two hexadecimal digits represent exactly eight bits. That makes a two-digit hexadecimal value a natural compact notation for one byte.

Example: A5₁₆ contains the nibbles A and 5. A becomes 1010 and 5 becomes 0101, so the complete byte is 10100101₂.

How to Convert a Hex Byte to Binary

A hexadecimal byte consists of two hexadecimal digits. Convert each digit to its four-bit binary nibble and then place the two nibbles together.

Hex byte: A5 First hex digit: A → 1010 Second hex digit: 5 → 0101 Join the nibbles: A5₁₆ = 1010 0101₂

Unlike an ordinary binary integer conversion, no leading zeros should be removed because this calculator represents a fixed-width eight-bit byte.

Why Two Hex Digits Equal One Byte

One hexadecimal digit has sixteen possible values. Four binary bits also have sixteen possible combinations, so one hexadecimal digit represents four bits.

1 hex digit = 4 bits 2 hex digits = 8 bits 8 bits = 1 byte Therefore: 2 hexadecimal digits = 1 byte

This relationship is why bytes are commonly displayed using pairs of hexadecimal digits in programming, memory dumps, networking and debugging tools.

High Nibble and Low Nibble of a Hex Byte

An eight-bit byte can be divided into two four-bit halves. The first half is called the high nibble, and the second half is called the low nibble.

A5₁₆ High nibble: A → 1010 Low nibble: 5 → 0101 Complete byte: 1010 0101

The high nibble contains bits 7 through 4, while the low nibble contains bits 3 through 0.

Hex Byte to Binary Table

The following examples show common hexadecimal byte values and their exact eight-bit binary equivalents.

Hex Byte	High Nibble	Low Nibble	8-Bit Binary	Unsigned Decimal
00	0000	0000	00000000	0
01	0000	0001	00000001	1
0F	0000	1111	00001111	15
10	0001	0000	00010000	16
20	0010	0000	00100000	32
2C	0010	1100	00101100	44
3F	0011	1111	00111111	63
40	0100	0000	01000000	64
7F	0111	1111	01111111	127
80	1000	0000	10000000	128
A5	1010	0101	10100101	165
AA	1010	1010	10101010	170
F0	1111	0000	11110000	240
FF	1111	1111	11111111	255

Example: Convert 2C Hex to an 8-Bit Binary Byte

The hexadecimal byte 2C consists of the high nibble 2 and the low nibble C.

2 → 0010 C → 1100 Join: 0010 1100 Therefore: 2C₁₆ = 00101100₂

The byte also represents unsigned decimal 44.

Example: Convert 0F Hex to Binary

The leading hexadecimal zero is important because the input represents an entire byte rather than an unrestricted mathematical integer.

0 → 0000 F → 1111 Complete byte: 0F₁₆ = 00001111₂

Although the mathematical binary integer could be written as 1111, the correct eight-bit byte representation is 00001111.

Example: Convert FF Hex to Binary

FF is the largest possible unsigned hexadecimal byte. Each F maps to four binary ones.

F → 1111 F → 1111 FF₁₆ = 1111 1111₂ Unsigned decimal: 255

Why Leading Zeros Matter in an 8-Bit Byte

An eight-bit byte must contain eight bit positions even when the numerical value could be represented with fewer binary digits.

Hex 01 Ordinary mathematical binary: 1 8-bit byte: 00000001

The leading zeros indicate that bits 7 through 1 are clear. Removing them may preserve the mathematical value, but it no longer visibly represents the complete byte width.

8-Bit Byte Positions and Values

Each bit in a byte has a power-of-two positional weight. From the most significant bit to the least significant bit, those weights are 128 through 1.

Bit: 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Weight: 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1

Adding the weights of all positions containing a 1 gives the byte’s unsigned decimal value.

Example: Understanding A5 as Eight Bits

A5₁₆ = 10100101₂ Bits: 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 Weights: 128 64 32 16 8 4 2 1 Enabled weights: 128 + 32 + 4 + 1 = 165

This confirms that hexadecimal A5, binary 10100101 and unsigned decimal 165 all represent the same numerical byte value.

Unsigned Hex Byte Range

An eight-bit byte contains 256 possible bit patterns. When interpreted as an unsigned value, the range is 0 through 255.

Minimum: 00₁₆ = 00000000₂ = 0₁₀ Maximum: FF₁₆ = 11111111₂ = 255₁₀

This calculator displays the unsigned decimal equivalent as a convenient reference. It does not reinterpret the byte as a signed two’s-complement integer.

Hex Byte vs Signed 8-Bit Integer

The same eight physical bits can have different numerical meanings depending on how a system interprets them. This calculator focuses on the raw byte and its unsigned value.

For example, FF is always the bit pattern 11111111. As an unsigned byte it equals 255. A signed 8-bit two’s-complement interpretation would instead represent -1, which is a separate conversion task.

Hex Byte vs Hex Nibble

A nibble converter handles one hexadecimal digit and returns four bits. A byte converter handles two hexadecimal digits and returns eight bits.

Unit	Hex Digits	Binary Bits	Example
Nibble	1	4	A → 1010
Byte	2	8	A5 → 10100101

Where Hexadecimal Bytes Are Used

Two-digit hexadecimal notation is one of the most common ways to display raw byte values because it is much shorter than writing all eight binary bits.

Memory dumps and hex editors.
Binary file analysis.
Network packet inspection.
Firmware and embedded systems.
Machine-code and opcode inspection.
Hardware register values.
Byte arrays in programming.
Character encodings.
Bit masks and flags.
Debugging low-level data.

Common Hex Byte Conversion Mistakes

Removing leading zeros from an eight-bit result.
Entering only one hexadecimal digit when a full byte is required.
Entering more than two hexadecimal digits.
Reversing the high and low nibbles.
Reversing the individual bits inside each nibble.
Confusing the raw byte with a signed integer interpretation.
Treating the 0x notation prefix as part of the byte.
Using hexadecimal characters outside 0–9 and A–F.

Hex to Binary Byte Converter FAQs

How many hex digits are in one byte?

Exactly two hexadecimal digits represent one eight-bit byte because each hex digit corresponds to four binary bits.

How many binary bits are in a byte?

A byte contains eight bits.

What is A5 hex in binary?

A maps to 1010 and 5 maps to 0101, so A5 becomes 10100101.

What is FF hex as an 8-bit binary byte?

FF converts to 11111111. It is the largest unsigned byte value and equals decimal 255.

What is 01 hex in 8-bit binary?

01 converts to 00000001. The leading zeros remain because the result is an eight-bit byte.

What is 0F hex in binary?

0F converts to 00001111.

What is 80 hex in binary?

80 converts to 10000000, which equals unsigned decimal 128.

What is the high nibble of a byte?

The high nibble is the upper four bits, corresponding to the first hexadecimal digit of a two-digit byte.

What is the low nibble of a byte?

The low nibble is the lower four bits, corresponding to the second hexadecimal digit.

Does this converter accept a 0x prefix?

Yes. Values such as 0xA5 and A5 are interpreted as the same hexadecimal byte.

Does the converter accept lowercase hex digits?

Yes. Lowercase a through f are automatically normalized to uppercase.

Is FF equal to -1 or 255?

The raw bit pattern is 11111111. This byte converter displays its unsigned value, 255. In signed 8-bit two’s-complement representation the same bits would represent -1, but that is a separate interpretation.

Convert a Hex Byte to Exactly 8 Binary Bits

Enter two hexadecimal digits above and select Convert Byte. The calculator preserves the complete eight-bit width, separates the high and low nibbles, displays each bit from bit 7 through bit 0, and provides the corresponding unsigned decimal byte value.