🚂 Rail Fence Cipher Decoder & Encoder

🏛️ What is a Rail Fence Cipher?

The Rail Fence Cipher (also called the Zigzag Cipher) is a classical transposition cipher that rearranges the plaintext by writing it in a zigzag pattern across multiple horizontal "rails" or rows. The ciphertext is then created by reading off each rail sequentially from top to bottom. (also called the Zigzag Cipher) is a classical transposition cipher that rearranges the plaintext by writing it in a zigzag pattern across multiple horizontal "rails" or rows. The ciphertext is then created by reading off each rail sequentially from top to bottom.

Unlike substitution ciphers (like the Caesar Cipher) that replace letters, the Rail Fence Cipher simply changes the order of letters, making it a transposition technique. of letters, making it a transposition technique.

📖 How Does the Rail Fence Cipher Work?

The encryption process follows these steps:

1. Choose the number of rails (this is your key/depth) (this is your key/depth)
2. Write the message in a zigzag pattern across the rails in a zigzag pattern across the rails
3. Read off each rail from top to bottom to create the ciphertext each rail from top to bottom to create the ciphertext

🔓 How to Decode Rail Fence Cipher

Decoding requires knowing the number of rails used:

1. Draw the zigzag pattern with empty placeholders with empty placeholders
2. Calculate how many characters go in each rail go in each rail
3. Fill in the rails sequentially from the ciphertext sequentially from the ciphertext
4. Read the zigzag pattern to reveal the plaintext to reveal the plaintext

Pro Tip: Use the tool above with "Decode" mode to automatically decrypt any Rail Fence Cipher message! Use the tool above with "Decode" mode to automatically decrypt any Rail Fence Cipher message!

🎓 How to Use This Rail Fence Cipher Tool

Real-time Encoding

1. Select the "Encode" tab at the top tab at the top
2. Type or paste your plaintext message in the left box
3. Adjust the number of rails (2-26) using the +/- buttons
4. The ciphertext appears instantly in the right box in the right box
5. Enable "Show zigzag pattern" to see the encryption process visually

Real-time Decoding

1. Select the "Decode" tab at the top tab at the top
2. Enter the ciphertext in the left box
3. Set the number of rails (must match the encoding key)
4. The plaintext appears automatically in the right box in the right box
5. If the text looks garbled, try different rail counts

💡 Pro Tips

• No buttons needed - Everything updates in real-time as you type - Everything updates in real-time as you type
• Try different rail counts - If you don't know the key, experiment with 2-5 rails first - If you don't know the key, experiment with 2-5 rails first
• Use visualization - The zigzag pattern helps you understand the cipher mechanics - The zigzag pattern helps you understand the cipher mechanics
• Quick examples - Click example buttons to see the cipher in action - Click example buttons to see the cipher in action
• Swap feature - Quickly move output back to input for further processing - Quickly move output back to input for further processing
• Copy easily - One-click copy button in the output box - One-click copy button in the output box