How can you register a domain in Arabic, Chinese, or Cyrillic? The DNS system only supports ASCII, so internationalized domain names (IDN) use Punycode — an encoding that maps Unicode to ASCII-compatible labels. Understanding Punycode also helps you spot phishing attacks using lookalike characters.
What Is Punycode Converter?
Punycode encodes Unicode domain labels as ASCII strings prefixed with 'xn--'. For example, münchen.de becomes xn--mnchen-3ya.de. Our Punycode Converter converts between display form and encoded form for any domain.
How to Use Punycode Converter on DevToolHub
- Open the Punycode Converter tool on DevToolHub — no signup required.
- Paste or enter your input data in the left panel.
- See the result instantly in the output panel.
- Copy the result or download it as a file.
International Domain Encoding
See how non-ASCII domains are encoded for DNS:
// Display form → Punycode
москва.com → xn--80adxhks.com
東京.jp → xn--1lqs71d.jp
münchen.de → xn--mnchen-3ya.de
عرب.com → xn--ngbrx.com
// Homograph attack detection
apple.com (real) → apple.com
аpple.com (Cyrillic а) → xn--pple-43d.com ← DIFFERENT!Pro Tips
- Always check the Punycode form of suspicious links — Cyrillic а looks identical to Latin a
- Use Punycode conversion when configuring SSL certificates for IDN domains
- Browsers show Punycode for suspicious IDN domains — this is a security feature
- Test your application with IDN domains to ensure proper URL handling
When You Need This
- Configuring DNS records for international domain names
- Detecting homograph phishing attacks in security reviews
- Setting up SSL certificates for IDN domains
- Validating email addresses with international domains
Free Tools Mentioned in This Article