Before Unicode became the standard for Nepali text, most Nepali content online and in print was typed using non-Unicode "ASCII-mapped" fonts — most commonly Preeti. These fonts work by remapping ordinary English keyboard characters to Devanagari-look-alike glyphs. The text isn't actually Devanagari at the character level — it only displays correctly if the reader's device has the exact matching font installed, which is why old Nepali documents and websites often display as broken symbols today.

• Choose "Preeti → Unicode" to convert old Preeti-encoded text into standard, universally readable Nepali Unicode.
• Choose "Unicode → Preeti" for the reverse — useful if you need to match an old Preeti-based document or system.
• Paste your text, click "Convert," then copy the result.

Government archives, older newspaper content, and many legacy documents in Nepal still exist in Preeti format. Converting them to Unicode makes the text searchable, properly displayable on any modern device without special fonts, and usable in current software and websites — a real and ongoing need as Nepal's digital records catch up to Unicode standards.

Preeti-to-Unicode conversion (the more common direction) uses a well-tested character mapping and reordering engine that correctly handles Preeti's distinctive typing order, where certain vowel signs are typed before the consonant they modify despite displaying after it. The reverse direction, Unicode-to-Preeti, is inherently more complex due to how conjunct consonants and matras are structured differently between the two systems, so results may occasionally need minor manual review for complex conjunct characters.

How do I know if my old document uses Preeti?
If Nepali text displays as strange symbols, question marks, or English-looking gibberish unless a specific font is installed, it's very likely typed in Preeti or a similar non-Unicode font.

Is my text sent to your server?
No, all conversion happens directly in your browser using JavaScript.

Does this work for other Nepali fonts like Kantipur?
This tool currently focuses on Preeti, the most widely used legacy Nepali font. Other fonts use different character mappings and would require separate conversion tables.