Preeti to Unicode Converter (Nepali)

Preeti text (looks like English letters)

Unicode Nepali

Convert as I type

What Preeti Is, and Why the Text Looks Broken

Preeti (प्रीति) is an old Nepali font from the time before Unicode was common. It does not store Nepali letters. It stores normal English keyboard characters and only draws them as Nepali shapes. When you type g]kfn with Preeti selected, the screen shows नेपाल, but the file still holds the five characters g ] k f n.

So Preeti text breaks when it leaves its document. Paste it into Gmail, Facebook or a website, and you see g]kfn again. Google also sees g]kfn, so nobody can find that text by searching in Nepali.

Unicode (युनिकोड) fixes this. Every Nepali letter has its own code, so नेपाल stays नेपाल in every app and on every phone. Many offices and schools in Nepal still have years of old Preeti files, and this tool converts them in seconds.

How to Use the Converter

Keep Preeti → Unicode selected. It is the default.
Copy the text from your Preeti document. It may look like random English letters. That is normal.
Paste it into the left box. The Unicode text appears on the right as you type. If you turn off "Convert as I type", press Convert.
Press Copy output and paste the text where you need it. If you paste it back into Word, change the font to a Unicode font such as Kalimati, Nirmala UI or Mangal.

To go the other way, choose Unicode → Preeti, paste Unicode Nepali, and copy the result into a document that uses the Preeti font. Swap moves the output into the input box and flips the direction, so you can check a result both ways.

Worked Examples

Every row below is from our test set of 80 words and sentences. We checked each one against three open-source Preeti converters, and all of them give the same Unicode.

Preeti (what is stored)	Unicode result	What happens
`g]kfn`	नेपाल	One key for each letter or sign: g = न, ] = े, k = प, f = ा, n = ल.
`sf7df8f}+`	काठमाडौं	Digit keys are letters in Preeti (7 = ठ, 8 = ड). f} becomes ौ and + is ं.
`lxGbL`	हिन्दी	l (ि) is typed first, then moved after ह.
`lk\|o`	प्रिय	ि moves after the whole cluster प्र, not just after प.
`wd{`	धर्म	{ is the reph (र्). It is typed after म and moved before it.
`cfly{s`	आर्थिक	Both rules at once. c + f also joins into आ.
`lzIff`	शिक्षा	I is half क्ष. I + f makes the full क्ष.
`kmf]g`	फोन	k + m makes फ. f] becomes ो.
`b'Mv`	दुःख	M after a Nepali letter is the visarga ः.
`cGt/f{li6«o`	अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय	A long word with a reph, a moved ि and the ्र under ट.
`@)*! ;fn`	२०८१ साल	Shift + number keys give Nepali digits.
`d]/f] gfd /fd xf].`	मेरो नाम राम हो।	The full stop key is the danda ।.

The Two Rules That Make Preeti Tricky

Most keys map to one letter. Two rules break that, and a simple find-and-replace gets them wrong:

The ि sign is typed first. In Preeti you press l (ि) before the letter, because that is where the sign sits on screen. Unicode stores ि after the letter. So lxGbL must become हिन्दी. When the letter is a cluster, ि moves past the whole cluster, so lk|o becomes प्रिय.
The reph (र्) is typed last. The small र् mark on top of a letter is typed with { after the letter and its vowel signs. Unicode stores र् before the letter. So wd{ becomes धर्म, and sLlt{ becomes कीर्ति.

The tool also joins two-key shapes: 0f is ण, km is फ and pm is ऊ. Unicode → Preeti does all of this in reverse.

Common Problems

The Preeti output looks like English letters. That is normal. It only looks Nepali where the Preeti font is installed and selected. We do not provide the font.
English words inside Preeti text. In Preeti mode every English letter is a Preeti key, so an English word like "Hello" turns into Nepali letters. The tool cannot tell them apart, so convert the Nepali parts on their own or fix the English words afterwards. In Unicode → Preeti mode, English letters are kept, and the tool warns you that the Preeti font will show them as Nepali.
Text copied from a PDF. If the PDF was made from a Preeti document, the copied text is usually Preeti codes and converts fine. Some PDFs copy out with letters missing or in the wrong order, and no converter can repair that. A scanned PDF has no text to copy at all.
Quote marks where ु or ू should be. Word can turn ' and " (the ु and ू keys) into curly quotes. Replace them with straight ones before converting.
A colon after a Nepali word. Preeti uses the same key for the colon and the visarga, so नाम: comes out as नामः. They look almost the same.
English digits in Unicode → Preeti. 2026 becomes the Preeti keys for २०२६. If it stayed as 2026, the Preeti font would show it as Nepali letters.
Rare characters. The tool covers all standard Preeti keys and the common extra characters, such as § for ट्ट and Í for ङ्क. Anything unknown is left as it was and counted under the boxes. Other fonts like Kantipur or PCS Nepali are not supported. Letters with a dot below, such as ज़, have no Preeti key, and neither does the hyphen, because the - key types "(" in Preeti.

Typing Nepali in Unicode From the Start

The easiest fix is to stop making new Preeti files:

Windows: open Settings → Time & language → Language & region, and add Nepali. Many people instead install a free Unicode layout, either Romanized or Traditional (which keeps the Preeti key positions). The ones from Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya are widely used.
Mac: open System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources, and add a Devanagari input source, such as Devanagari – QWERTY.
Phone: on Android, add Nepali in Gboard. It can turn Roman letters into Nepali as you type, so namaste becomes नमस्ते. On iPhone, look in Settings → General → Keyboard → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard for a Nepali or Devanagari option.

Older guides often recommend Google Input Tools. Check that it is still offered for your system first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this Preeti to Unicode converter free and private?

Yes. It is free and needs no signup. The conversion runs in your browser with JavaScript, so your text is not uploaded to FreeToolPoint or anywhere else. You can safely use it for office letters and personal documents.

Why does my Unicode to Preeti result look like English letters?

Preeti text is stored as English keyboard characters. It only looks Nepali when the Preeti font is installed and selected for that text. Paste the result into Word or another program, select it, and change the font to Preeti. This site does not provide the font.

Does it put ि and the reph (र्) in the right place?

Yes. In Preeti the ि sign is typed before its letter and the reph is typed after it. The converter moves both into the order Unicode needs, also for letter clusters. For example, lk|o becomes प्रिय and cfly{s becomes आर्थिक.

What happens to English words inside Preeti text?

They are converted too. In Preeti every English letter is a key for a Nepali letter, so the tool cannot tell an English word from Nepali. Convert only the Nepali parts, or fix the English words by hand after converting.

Can it convert Kantipur, PCS Nepali or Sagarmatha fonts?

No. Those fonts put some Nepali letters on different keys, so their text would come out partly wrong. This tool follows the Preeti key map only.

Which font should I use after converting to Unicode?

Any Unicode Devanagari font works. Kalimati is common in Nepali offices, and Windows includes Nirmala UI and Mangal. Phones and Macs show Unicode Nepali without installing anything.

Preeti to Unicode Converter