Arabic-Indic, Persian and Western digits: convert ١٢٣ to 123

Three sets of digits and some confusing names

Unicode has three sets of decimal digits that people writing Arabic, Persian and Urdu use. Each set is ten separate characters with the same values:

The names are where the trouble starts. As the Unicode Standard explains, 0–9 are widely known in English as “Arabic numerals”, while the digits used in the eastern Arab world are known there as “Hindi numbers”. So “convert the numbers to Arabic” can mean ١٢٣ to one person and 123 to another. Before you convert anything, agree on the shapes you need, not the name.

The third set looks close to the second, but Unicode notes distinct shapes for four, five, six and seven: compare ٤٥٦ with ۴۵۶. Urdu also draws ۴, ۶ and ۷ differently from Persian, even though they are the same characters.

Why forms, Excel and banks reject ١٢٣

The digit ٢ and the digit 2 are different characters with different code points. Software that expects 0–9 sees ٢ as just another character, not a number. Worse, the Arabic ٢ and the Persian ۲ look identical in most fonts but are different characters too:

2٢۲

U+0032 U+0662 U+06F2

That invisible difference shows up in a lot of places:

• Online forms. Some phone, ID and postcode fields only accept 0–9. If your keyboard types ٠١٢٣, a valid number can be rejected, or accepted and then never found in a later search.
• Excel and other spreadsheets. If a sheet stores ١٢٣ as text rather than as a number, formulas will not treat it the way you expect. Microsoft notes that when a column mixes numbers stored as numbers with numbers stored as text, the former sort before the latter, so the order no longer follows the values. Excel may also flag the cell as a number stored as text.
• Phone numbers. A number typed half as ٠٥٥ and half as 123 will not match the same number stored in a database, and search will not find it.
• IBANs. An IBAN starts with a two-letter country code, followed by two check digits calculated from the rest of the number with ISO/IEC 7064 (MOD 97-10). A system that runs that check expects Latin letters and the digits 0–9, so it will usually reject an IBAN typed with ١٢٣ even if every position is right.

The W3C draft note on string searching allows browsers to treat other digit shapes as 0–9 when searching, but does not require it. Do not assume the software will reconcile them for you.

Converting digits to 123, step by step

1. Open the Cleaner and paste your text.
2. Click the Digits to 123 quick action. It selects Western — 0123456789 and turns on Protect detected links & emails during digit conversion. Note that quick actions replace your current options.
3. If you want other cleanup in the same pass, open Convert digits instead, pick the target shapes yourself, then tick link protection and any other options you need.
4. Check the Change summary and Compare changes, then copy or download the result.

طلب رقم ٢٠٤٥٨
الجوال: ۰۱۲۳۴۵۶۷۸۹
المبلغ: ١٬٢٥٠٫٥٠٠ د.ك
الخصم: ١٥٪

طلب رقم 20458
الجوال: 0123456789
المبلغ: 1٬250٫500 د.ك
الخصم: 15٪

Three things to notice. The Arabic-Indic and Persian digits all became 0–9 in one pass, so you do not need to know where each number came from. The separators ٬ and ٫ in the amount stayed as they were. And the percent sign ٪ did not change. None of this is a bug; these are deliberate limits, covered in the next section.

For numbers in a spreadsheet, copy the whole column, paste it into the Cleaner and paste the result back into the same column. The tool keeps the number and order of lines as long as the line options stay off.

What conversion does not change

Conversion changes the shape of digits and nothing else. It does not touch values or formatting:

• Separators. The Arabic decimal separator ٫ and thousands separator ٬ are their own characters, separate from the full stop and comma, and the tool leaves them alone. The W3C Arabic and Persian layout requirements write a number in Arabic-Indic digits as ١٬٢٣٤٫٥.
• Units and currencies. د.ك, ر.س or كم stay exactly as typed. Nothing is converted between currencies or units.
• Rounding. No rounding and no trimmed zeros: ٠٫٥٠٠ becomes 0٫500.
• Dates. ٢٠٢٦/١٠/٠٤ becomes 2026/10/04 in the same order. Day and month are never swapped.

If the receiving software needs a decimal point, replace the separator yourself. Open Find & replace, tick Apply replacement to result, type ٫ in Find and a full stop in Replace with. Replacement runs after digit conversion, so the number comes out ready to use:

السعر ١٢٥٫٥٠ ر.س

السعر 125.50 ر.س

To remove the thousands separator ٬ as well, paste the result back in as your original and run the replacement again with an empty Replace with. Spreadsheets cope with 1250.500 far better than with 1٬250.500.

Other digit systems: the World numerals tool

The Cleaner only converts between the three sets above. For Devanagari, Thai or other digits, use World numerals. In Digit system for conversion, pick the target code: latn for 0–9, arab for ٠–٩ or arabext for Persian digits. The tool recognizes every decimal digit system in its bundled CLDR data and converts them all at once:

१२३ ٤٥٦ ۷۸۹ ๑๐

123 456 789 10

Choose a locale under Language / region and the tool also shows what CLDR records for it: Default system, Decimal separator and Grouping separator. In the bundled CLDR release, for example, ar-EG and ar-SA default to ٠–٩ with ٫ and ٬, ar-MA uses 0–9 with a decimal comma and a full stop for thousands, and fa uses Persian digits. These are defaults that software follows, not rules every writer or publisher must obey.

The conversion itself is independent of the locale you choose. It leaves separators and currencies alone and never rounds. Algorithmic numbering systems, such as Roman numerals, are not offered for conversion because they do not map one digit to one digit.

The other direction: from 123 to ١٢٣

Sometimes you need the reverse: a book printed with Arabic-Indic digits, or a text that has to follow a publisher's house style. In the Cleaner choose Arabic-Indic — ٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩, or Extended Arabic-Indic — ۰۱۲۳۴۵۶۷۸۹ for Persian or Urdu text. This is where link protection really matters:

الفصل 3، الصفحة 45
الرابط: https://example.com/ch3
البريد: info2@example.com

الفصل ٣، الصفحة ٤٥
الرابط: https://example.com/ch3
البريد: info2@example.com

Without protection, the digits inside the link are converted too and the link stops working:

الرابط: https://example.com/ch3

الرابط: https://example.com/ch٣

Protection detects links starting with https://, http:// or www., and email addresses. A product code such as A320 is converted like any other number, so check those before publishing. And do not convert text whose numbers must stay exactly as they are, such as code samples or account numbers.

When you need the number in words

Changing digit shapes is one job; writing an amount out in words is another. To produce مئة وخمسة وعشرون دينارًا for a cheque, contract or invoice, use Number words. It accepts 123, ١٢٣ and ۱۲۳ and either . or ٫ as the decimal separator, so there is no need to convert digits first:

١٢٥٫٥٠٠

مئة وخمسة وعشرون دينارًا كويتيًا وخمسمئة فلس

It does not accept thousands separators, and it rejects more decimals than the currency allows instead of rounding. It supports Kuwaiti dinars with three decimals and Saudi riyals, UAE dirhams and US dollars with two, and lets you choose the grammatical case. The tafqit guide covers the details.