How it works
The reverse alphabet is zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba, and the page opens with it ready to copy. Type your own words and each letter is swapped for the one the same distance from the other end, so hello comes out as svool.
Read the full guide
Two jobs, one box
Leave the sample alone and Copy takes the alphabet from z to a. Type anything else and the box is an alphabet reverser for your own text: a becomes z, b becomes y, and the middle pair, m and n, trade places. Capitals stay capitals. Numbers and punctuation pass through untouched.
It reads itself back
Because z also becomes a, the box is its own decoder: running the code twice returns the plain words. Paste svool into the same box and hello comes back. There is no key to agree on, which is also why it keeps nothing secret.
- To invert the alphabet by hand, write a to m on one line and z to n beneath it, then swap up or down.
- Positions always add up to 27. E is letter 5, so its partner is letter 22, V.
Questions and answers
What is the alphabet backwards?
Z Y X W V U T S R Q P O N M L K J I H G F E D C B A. The page opens on it in small letters, and the list underneath pairs every letter with its opposite.
Does this code have a name?
Yes. Wikipedia records it as Atbash, a substitution cipher first used with the Hebrew alphabet and named after that alphabet's first, last, second and second-to-last letters. It can be used with any alphabet that has a fixed order.
Is it the same as writing a word backwards?
No. Backwards writing keeps the letters and turns their order round, so hello is olleh. The reversed alphabet keeps the order and changes each letter, so hello is svool.
Is the reversed alphabet a safe code?
No. There is only one way to reverse an alphabet, so there is nothing to guess. Wikipedia notes the cipher gives no security because it has no key. It suits puzzles, treasure hunts and notes between friends.