Convert ANSI to ASCII
Strip ANSI color and escape codes to leave plain ASCII text. Runs entirely in your browser, so your data never leaves your device.
0 chars · 0 lines
Output
The result appears here as you type.
How to use Convert ANSI to ASCII
- 1. Paste the colored terminal output. Drop text that contains ANSI escape sequences into the input pane. Output captured from a CI job, a script log or a copied terminal session usually carries these invisible color codes.
- 2. Let the stripper find the sequences. There are no options to set. The tool locates every escape sequence, including color changes, cursor moves and resets like ESC[31m and ESC[0m, and removes them while leaving the visible characters intact.
- 3. Check the cleaned text. The right pane shows the same content with only plain ASCII remaining. Word spacing and line breaks are preserved, so diffs against the original show exactly which control noise was removed.
- 4. Copy the plain result. Copy the stripped text into a ticket, a grep pipeline or a plain-text log store. Nothing left in it will confuse tools that do not speak terminal escape codes.
When to use Convert ANSI to ASCII
Convert ANSI to ASCII strips the escape sequences that terminals use for color and formatting, leaving only readable text. Logs saved from colorized tools are full of sequences like ESC[32m that turn into gibberish everywhere except a terminal. One pass through this tool makes such output safe for any text destination.
- Cleaning CI logs for bug reports. A failing GitHub Actions or Jenkins job produces color-coded output that pastes as [31mERROR[0m garbage. Strip the codes before attaching the log to an issue so reviewers read the actual message.
- Preparing logs for grep and diff. Escape sequences sit between characters and quietly break exact-match searches. Stripping them first means grep, diff and awk operate on the words you see rather than hidden byte salad.
- Archiving terminal sessions as plain text. Output captured with the script command or tee from a colorized CLI is unreadable in a normal editor. Cleaning it produces an archive-quality transcript that opens correctly anywhere.
- Feeding CLI output into another program. A parser expecting plain columns from ls or a test runner chokes on embedded color codes. Sanitize the sample here to confirm the codes were the problem before patching your pipeline.
Examples
Strip colors
Input
[31mred[0m
Output
red
About the Convert ANSI to ASCII tool
Convert ANSI to ASCII is a free online tool that works entirely inside your web browser. Strip ANSI color and escape codes to leave plain ASCII text. Because the processing happens on your own device, nothing you enter is uploaded, logged or stored anywhere.
This page is one of 81 ASCII utilities on EditSafely. Each one does a single job well, and all of them follow the same rule: your input stays on your machine.
There is nothing to configure. Provide the input and the result appears on its own. A worked example further down the page shows exactly what the tool produces for a real input.
Because nothing leaves your device, the tool is suitable for sensitive content such as internal documents, credentials or customer data. It also responds instantly, since every keystroke is handled on your own machine rather than by a remote API.
Frequently asked questions
Does Convert ANSI to ASCII cost anything?
Yes, it is completely free. All 2,658 tools on EditSafely work without an account, a subscription or usage limits.
Is it safe to paste sensitive or confidential data?
No data leaves your device. The whole tool is JavaScript that runs inside your browser tab, so there is no upload, no server-side processing and no log of what you did. If you disconnect from the internet after the page loads, it keeps working.
How much text can I process at once?
There is no fixed limit. Because the work happens on your own device rather than on a shared server, the practical ceiling is your machine's memory, which comfortably handles inputs far larger than typical online tools allow.
Do I need to sign up or install anything?
Nothing to install and no account needed. Open the page in any up-to-date browser, including on a phone or tablet, and the tool is ready.
How do I use the result?
The output panel has a one-click copy button, and you can keep refining the input while you work; the result updates in place as you type.