What is Kruti Dev, and why does it turn into English letters?
Kruti Dev is one of the most widely used Hindi typing fonts in India, especially in government offices, courts and typing exams. It is a legacy font: instead of storing real Hindi letters, it stores ordinary English keyboard characters and simply draws them as Devanagari shapes. The letters Hkkjr, shown in the Kruti Dev font, look like भारत.
The problem starts when the font is not there. Send the text by email, paste it on a website, or open it on a phone, and the reader sees the raw English characters. Unicode fixes this. In Unicode, भ is stored as the real Hindi letter, so it displays correctly on every modern device, can be searched on Google, and works in WhatsApp, Gmail and Google Docs.
How to convert Kruti Dev to Unicode
- Copy your Kruti Dev text from MS Word, Excel or any file. Select it and press Ctrl + C.
- Paste it into the left box. It will look like English letters and symbols. That is normal.
- Copy the Unicode Hindi from the right box and paste it wherever you need it.
- In Word, choose a Unicode Hindi font such as Mangal, Nirmala UI or Noto Sans Devanagari for the pasted text.
How to convert Unicode to Kruti Dev
Some offices and exams still require Kruti Dev. Switch the tool to Unicode → Kruti Dev, paste your Hindi, copy the result, paste it into Word, then select it and set the font to Kruti Dev 010. The text will look right only in that font.
Kruti Dev vs Mangal vs Unicode
| Kruti Dev | Unicode (Mangal, Nirmala UI, Noto) | |
|---|---|---|
| What is stored | English keyboard characters | Real Hindi letters |
| Needs a special font | Yes, Kruti Dev must be installed | No, works on all modern devices |
| Google search and websites | Shows as English letters | Shows correctly and is searchable |
| Mobile phones and WhatsApp | Breaks | Works |
| Common use today | Typing exams, older office files | Everything else |
Mangal is a Unicode Hindi font that came with Windows. When people say “Kruti Dev to Mangal”, they mean converting Kruti Dev to Unicode, which this tool does.
Examples of how Kruti Dev characters map to Hindi
| Kruti Dev typed | Unicode Hindi | Note |
|---|---|---|
Hkkjr | भारत | H = भ, k = ा |
fgUnh | हिन्दी | f (choti i) is typed before the letter |
/keZ | धर्म | Z (reph) is typed after the letter |
{ks= | क्षेत्र | { = क्ष, = = त्र |
Jh | श्री | J = श्र |
The tricky part of any converter is the choti i matra, typed before its consonant in Kruti Dev but stored after it in Unicode, and the reph (the र् on top), typed after. This tool moves both to the correct position automatically.
Converting Kruti Dev in Excel
For a sheet full of Kruti Dev names or addresses, copy one column at a time, paste it into the converter, copy the result and paste it back into the same column. Each line stays on its own row. Then change the column font to a Unicode Hindi font.
Limitations
This converter is built for Kruti Dev 010, the most common version. Other legacy fonts such as Chanakya, DevLys or Shusha use different character layouts and will not convert correctly here. Text with mixed English and Kruti Dev in the same paragraph will also convert the English, because Kruti Dev uses English letters for Hindi. Always proofread names and numbers once.
For the technical background, Devanagari characters and their codes are listed in the official Unicode Devanagari chart. The conversion table in this tool is based on the open-source hindi-font-converter project (ISC licence).
Frequently asked questions
Is this Kruti Dev to Unicode converter free?
Yes. It is free with no sign-up, and conversion happens inside your browser.
Why does my Kruti Dev text show English letters?
Kruti Dev stores English keyboard characters and only looks like Hindi in the Kruti Dev font. Without that font, you see the raw characters. Converting to Unicode fixes it.
Is Kruti Dev to Mangal the same as Kruti Dev to Unicode?
Yes. Mangal is a Unicode Hindi font, so converting Kruti Dev to Unicode gives you text that displays in Mangal.
Can I convert Unicode Hindi back to Kruti Dev?
Yes. Choose Unicode → Kruti Dev, paste your Hindi, then set the font of the result to Kruti Dev 010 in Word.
Does it work with Kruti Dev 010 and 016?
It is built for the Kruti Dev 010 layout, which is the standard used in most offices and exams. Other versions with a different layout may need checking.
Is my text uploaded anywhere?
No. Conversion runs in your browser and nothing is sent to our server.