Reverse Text

How to use it

1. Type or paste your text.
2. Choose whether to reverse characters, words or lines.
3. Copy the reversed result.

What is backwards text?

Backwards text is ordinary text with its characters written in the opposite order, so Hello world becomes dlrow olleH. This reverse text tool flips whole characters, not the raw bytes underneath them.

reversed = Array.from(text.normalize()).reverse().join("")
whole characters move, so one emoji stays one emoji

The text is normalized first, which glues an accent to its letter however the character was typed, so é never loses its mark. The word mode splits each line on spaces and reverses only the sequence of words; the line mode reverses only the order of the lines. All three run instantly in your browser and reversing again restores the original.

Worked example

What survives character reversal

Three ways to reverse text

Reversing by characters writes the whole text back to front, so ‘stressed’ becomes ‘desserts’ and ‘Hello world’ becomes ‘dlrow olleH’. This is the mode most people mean by backwards text, and it is the one to use for mirror writing, palindrome checks and puzzles. Line breaks are reversed with everything else, so the last line comes out first.

Reversing word order keeps every word readable and only flips their sequence, line by line: ‘one two three’ becomes ‘three two one’. Reversing line order leaves each line intact and turns the list upside down, which is the quickest way to undo a list pasted newest-first or to put a chat log back into chronological order.

Where character reversal gets tricky

Text is stored as a sequence of code units, and emoji and some symbols span more than one. The tool reverses whole characters rather than units, so a single emoji comes through intact, and it normalizes the text first so an accent always stays on its letter, however the é was typed. Combined emoji, such as a flag or a family built from several emoji joined by invisible joiner characters, are split into their parts when reversed, because each part is a character of its own. Reverse by word or by line if those need to stay whole.

Palindromes and mirror writing

A palindrome reads the same in both directions once you ignore spaces, punctuation and case. ‘A man, a plan, a canal: Panama’ reversed is ‘amanaP :lanac a ,nalp a ,nam A’, which matches letter for letter. Reversed text is also the usual way to prepare mirror writing for a stencil or an iron-on transfer, since the letters have to be printed backwards to read correctly in a mirror. For light obfuscation it works, but it is not encryption; anyone can reverse it back in one click.

Common uses

• Writing backwards text for fun or puzzles
• Flipping the order of a list
• Reversing word order in a sentence
• Creating mirror-style text
• Undoing a list that was pasted in the wrong order
• Checking whether a phrase is a palindrome

When to use it

• You want to write backwards text for a puzzle, riddle or scavenger-hunt clue.
• You need to check if a phrase is a palindrome by comparing it with its reversed form.
• A pasted list arrived newest-first and reversing the line order restores chronology.
• You are preparing mirror writing for a stencil or an iron-on transfer that must print backwards.
• A spoiler or quiz answer should be reversed so nobody reads it by accident.

Related tools

Upside Down Text goes one step further, rotating each letter 180 degrees as well as reversing the order.

Sort Lines reorders a list by rules, alphabetical or numeric, instead of simply flipping it end to end.

Case Converter restores normal capitalization after you un-reverse text that came back in a mess.