Text Tools
Palindrome Checker
Check whether a word, phrase or number reads the same forwards and backwards, ignoring spaces, punctuation and capitals.
About the Palindrome Checker
The Palindrome Checker tells you whether a word, phrase or number reads the same forwards and backwards. Letter tiles show each mirrored pair, with any mismatches in red, and it suggests the shortest ending that would turn your text into a palindrome. You can choose whether spaces, punctuation and capitals count.
What you can do with the Palindrome Checker
- Instant verdict: Tells you if it reads the same both ways.
- Mirrored letter tiles: Each pair is matched, with mismatches in red.
- Make it a palindrome: Suggests the shortest ending that would turn it into one.
- Your rules: Choose whether spaces, punctuation and capitals count.
Famous examples
Single words like "racecar", "level" and "madam"; phrases like "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama" and "Was it a car or a cat I saw?"; and numbers like 12321. Dates can be palindromes too: 22 February 2022, written 22022022, reads the same both ways. Tap an example to try it.
How the check works
By default everything except letters and digits is removed, the remaining text is lowercased, and the result is compared with its own reverse. Switch off either option for a strict check, where "Racecar" with a capital R would not count.
Any language
Letters from any alphabet are compared, so words in Hindi, accented European words and other scripts are checked too.
Related tools
Frequently Asked Questions
Do spaces and punctuation matter?
Not by default, so whole sentences can count as palindromes. Switch off "Ignore spaces & punctuation" to include them.
Can numbers be palindromes?
Yes, 121, 1331 and 12321 are all palindromic numbers.
What's the longest palindromic word in English?
"Tattarrattat", a word coined by James Joyce in Ulysses, is often cited as the longest.
What is a palindrome? Give some examples.
A palindrome reads the same forwards and backwards. Words like madam, level, racecar and malayalam are palindromes, as are phrases like "Never odd or even" once spaces and capitals are ignored, and numbers like 12321.
What is a palindrome date?
A date whose digits read the same both ways. In the Indian day-month-year format, 22-02-2022 gives 22022022, which is a palindrome, and so does 12-02-2021. Type the digits without dashes to check any date.
How does "Turn it into a palindrome" work?
It finds the longest part at the end of your text that is already a palindrome, then adds the reverse of the remaining start. For "hello" the ending "o" is a palindrome, so "lleh" is added to give "hellolleh".
Why is "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama" not a palindrome for me?
With "Ignore spaces & punctuation" or "Ignore capitals" switched off, the commas, spaces, colon and capital letters are compared too, so the phrase fails. Switch both options on and it is compared as "amanaplanacanalpanama", which is a palindrome.
What do the red and green tiles mean?
Each letter is paired with its mirror from the other end. Green pairs match and red pairs do not, and in an odd-length word the middle letter is marked separately because it has no partner. Text over 30 characters is still checked but not drawn.
Is "stressed" and "desserts" a palindrome?
No. Reversing "stressed" gives a different word, "desserts", so neither is a palindrome. Words like this are called semordnilaps. A true palindrome turns into itself when reversed, as "refer" does.
How do you check a palindrome in a program?
Clean the string the same way this tool does, then compare it with its reverse, or move two pointers inward from both ends and stop at the first mismatch. The two-pointer method needs no extra copy and is a common interview answer.
Does a palindrome need an odd number of letters?
No. Odd-length palindromes like racecar have a middle letter that matches itself, while even-length ones like noon or abba pair every letter. Even a single letter counts as a palindrome, since it reads the same both ways.
Related tools
- Morse Code Translator, Translate text to International Morse code and decode dots and dashes back into letters.
- Binary Translator, Convert text to binary, hex, decimal or octal bytes (UTF-8) and back again, type in either box.
- Base64 Encoder & Decoder, Encode text to Base64 or decode Base64 strings back to text, with full UTF-8 and emoji support.
- URL Encoder & Decoder, Percent-encode text so it is safe inside a URL or query string, or decode %20-style URLs back to readable text.
- HTML Entity Encoder & Decoder, Escape < > & and quotes into HTML entities so they display as text, or unescape entities back to characters.
- Roman Numeral Converter, Convert numbers 1–3999 into Roman numerals and Roman numerals back into numbers.
Quick Work Studio