Punycode / IDN Converter

How to use this tool

1

Enter a domain or word

Type an internationalized domain like münchen.de, or a Punycode string like xn--mnchen-3ya.de.

2

Convert both ways

ns6 detects the direction automatically — Unicode becomes ASCII Punycode, and an xn-- string decodes back to readable Unicode.

3

Copy the form you need

Use the ASCII Punycode form when registering or configuring DNS, and the Unicode form when displaying the name to people.

4

Register it

Many extensions support IDNs. Search the name at ns6 to check availability and register it with free privacy and DNS.

Internationalized domain names (IDNs) let a domain use non-ASCII characters — accents, Chinese, Arabic, Cyrillic, even emoji. Because the DNS itself only understands ASCII, these names are encoded into a special ASCII form called Punycode, which always begins with the xn-- prefix. münchen.de, for example, is stored in DNS as xn--mnchen-3ya.de.

You need the Punycode form when registering an IDN or configuring DNS, and the readable Unicode form when showing the name to people. This converter translates in both directions instantly, so you can move between what users see and what the DNS stores without guesswork.

Frequently asked questions

Punycode is the ASCII encoding the DNS uses to store internationalized domain names. Names with non-ASCII characters are converted to an ASCII string starting with xn--, which is what actually lives in DNS.

An Internationalized Domain Name uses characters beyond basic ASCII — accents, or scripts like Chinese, Arabic or Cyrillic — so people can register domains in their own language.

That’s the Punycode form of your IDN. Browsers display the readable Unicode version, but registrars, DNS records and certificates often show the xn-- form. They’re the same domain.

Yes. münchen.de and xn--mnchen-3ya.de are two representations of one domain — the Unicode form for humans and the Punycode form for machines.

On many extensions, yes. Support varies by registry, so convert your name here first, then search it at ns6 to check availability on the extensions you want.