Morse Code Tree

Read the branches, not just the final letter

Every new character begins at Start. A dot takes the left branch and a dash takes the right branch. The highlighted path shows the elements entered so far; the current candidate tells you which character that complete path would represent. Each new element can change the candidate because it extends the same character.

Passing through a letter does not add it to the message. You decide where a character ends by confirming it, or by using the pause-based confirmation in Practice. Until then, the path is a draft. Read the current signal and written path alongside the tree so you can follow the pattern without relying on small diagram labels.

The tree includes A–Z and 0–9. Some branches pass through hollow nodes that are valid prefixes but not finished characters. Continue to a supported character or undo the last element. A hollow node does not represent punctuation and is not an instruction to add a space.

For punctuation, É and the broader text alphabet, use the character chart.

Follow one complete example: R

Choose Learn for separate Dot and Dash buttons. Press Dot once and the candidate is E. Add Dash and it becomes A. Add one more Dot and the complete path is .-., which is R. Select Add R to put only R in the message, then start the next character from Start.

The intermediate E and A are useful signposts. They show what a shorter path would mean if you ended the character there. They are not an automatically entered prefix of your message. After this sequence, the confirmed message contains R, not EAR.

Try R example demonstrates a path without entering it as your draft or confirmed message. A character link from another tool can also open a supported demonstration. Read the example notice before practicing: your first real input starts from Start, rather than appending to the demonstration. Exit example clears the demonstration view without adding its letter.

Try the input method that fits the exercise

Learn lets you choose elements directly with Dot and Dash, then add the character yourself. There is no need to time your presses or hurry through a path. Use it first when the main question is which branch comes next, or when you want to compare a candidate before and after one extra element.

Practice uses the large Tap or hold key. Press briefly for a dot, or hold longer for a dash, then release. Space works when that key has keyboard focus. The ordinary buttons also support keyboard navigation. You do not need to hit a small tree node or install a physical Morse key to complete the exercise.

More contains the practice timing controls. The displayed dot/dash threshold determines how a press is classified; it is an interface setting, not a universal transmission speed. Change timing with the current character finished or cleared. Sound provides feedback after an input gesture, but you can mute it and follow the visual path instead.

Know when a character joins your message

In Learn, select Add followed by the current candidate to confirm it. In Practice, Auto-add after a pause can confirm a valid candidate after the configured character gap. The countdown shows when that will happen. Turn auto-add off before starting if you want to control confirmation manually, and add the finished candidate yourself.

A new press before the deadline continues the same character. If you pause long enough for confirmation, the next input begins a new path. A hollow prefix cannot be confirmed merely by waiting. For example, ..-- needs a final dash to form the digit 2; the unfinished prefix is not a finished number.

With automatic timing, a longer word pause prepares the next word. The visible space is added with the next confirmed character. For deliberate word boundaries, More also provides Add word gap. Distinguish these boundaries from the elements of the current path: a word space is never a dot or dash.

Undo a step without starting over

While building R, use Undo after the final dot. The path returns from .-. to .-, and the candidate returns from R to A. Add Dot again, check R, and confirm it. This repairs one element while leaving earlier confirmed characters intact.

With an empty path, Undo first cancels a pending word gap, or returns the most recently confirmed character to the draft for editing. Automatic timing pauses after an edit until your next valid press. Reset path in More discards only the unfinished character; Clear message asks before clearing the practice. If a path becomes unsupported, undo or reset it before adding more elements.

A short practice session: see it, enter it, check it

Start a fresh Learn session and enter E with one Dot, then select Add E. The message now contains E and the path is empty. Enter A with Dot followed by Dash, and select Add A. Notice that the E encountered on this second path never becomes another confirmed E.

Next, enter Dot, Dash, Dot for R. Before confirming, deliberately select Undo. Check that the message still contains EA while the candidate returns to A. Add Dot again and select Add R. Your finished message should read EAR, built from three separately confirmed characters.

This result differs from entering .-. once. In the single-path example, E and A were temporary candidates on the way to R. In this exercise, you intentionally ended and confirmed their shorter paths before beginning the next character. The difference is the location of the character boundaries.

Repeat in Practice with auto-add disabled, then try it with auto-add enabled. Adjust the character pause if it confirms before you have finished thinking. The goal is to understand input, correction and confirmation. There is no need to increase speed, and completing a visual exercise does not establish listening fluency.

For a separate exercise based on listening to complete characters, create a practice recording.

Use the tree on a smaller screen

On a narrow screen, Current path shows a focused view of the current branch, its parent, sibling and next steps. Full tree displays the complete reference. Use the zoom controls and scroll inside that view to inspect a distant branch; Fit tree restores the overview. Return to Current path when you want to concentrate on your next input.

The main page still scrolls to the message and More controls. If you move to another app during a press, the unfinished hold is cancelled and confirmation pauses. The tree does not guess how that interrupted press ended. Check the draft when you return and enable sound when you are ready to continue.

Copy text is available for a nonempty confirmed message with no draft remaining. Finish or clear the draft first. Practice lives in this page’s memory and clears when you leave the Tree or refresh. Copy anything you want to keep before navigating away; visiting a character demonstration does not save a practice history.