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Birthday ASCII Art

Birthday ASCII art for messages and cards: a happy birthday cake, small cakes with candles, balloons and a candle in text. Tap to copy.

By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · · How we review content

Small birthday pieces

5 lines, 4 wide
5 lines, 11 wide
One line, 4 wide · traditional

Bigger birthday pieces

7 lines, 20 wide
9 lines, 18 wide
7 lines, 19 wide

Made with our image converter

We drew a simple birthday cake shape and ran it through the image to ASCII converter on this site. Braille pieces pack eight dots into each character, so they look smoother but rely on a font with Braille Patterns.

9 lines, 16 wide
14 lines, 24 wide
6 lines, 10 wide

9 pieces on this page. All are drawn for this site except those marked traditional, which have been shared online for years without a known author. Copy one and paste it into a code block, a terminal or any app that uses a monospace font; in a proportional font the lines drift apart. Make your own with the text to ASCII generator or the image to ASCII converter.

Key facts

  • A text cake is a box with | for the sides, _ or - for the edges and candles drawn as | under a flame such as * or i.
  • Frosting is a row of ~, and a layered cake is a second box added with a line between the layers.
  • Every line inside a cake must be the same length, padded with spaces, or the right side of the cake will be uneven.
  • The candle is 4 characters wide, the small cake 11, the balloons 16 and the happy birthday cake 19.
  • In WhatsApp, wrap a cake in three backticks to show it in monospace; in Discord or Slack use the Code block button.

How do you build a text birthday cake?

A cake is a box with candles on top. The box uses | for the sides, _ or - for the edges and . and ' for rounded corners. Candles are | with a flame (,, * or i) above them, and frosting is a row of ~. To make it a layered cake, add a second box with a line between the layers.

Writing inside the cake is what makes it personal. Count the characters inside the box and keep every line the same length, padding with spaces, or the right side of the cake will be uneven.

Which ASCII art birthday piece should I use?

Pick by width: the candle is 4 characters, the small cake 11, the balloons 16 and the happy birthday cake 19.

Piece Width Good for
Candle 4 Short messages
Small cake 11 Chats with code blocks
Happy birthday cake 19 Discord, cards
Balloons 16 Cards and printouts

Big “Happy Birthday” lettering to go above a cake is one click away in the text to ASCII generator. Any ascii art birthday piece works better with a message above it, so write the greeting first and the cake second.

Frequently asked questions

Basics

What are the parts of a birthday cake in ASCII art?
A box for the cake, drawn with | for the sides, _ or - for the edges and . and ' for rounded corners, candles drawn as | with a flame above, and frosting as a row of ~. Add a second box for a layered cake.
How wide are the birthday pieces?
The candle is 4 characters wide, the small cake 11, the balloons 16 and the happy birthday cake 19. Each card also shows its own size, so you can choose a piece that fits the app before you copy it.

Where it works

How do I send a birthday cake in a message?
For WhatsApp, wrap the cake in three backticks so it shows in monospace; for Discord or Slack, use the Code block button. In ordinary message bubbles the cake's sides will not line up. In a normal message bubble the sides will not line up even when every line has the same length.
Which birthday piece fits a chat message?
The small cake, at 11 characters wide, suits chats that use code blocks, and the candle at 4 characters is the best fit for short messages. Wrap either in a code block so the sides stay lined up. Wider pieces may wrap on a narrow phone screen.
Which birthday piece is best for a card?
The happy birthday cake, at 19 characters wide, suits Discord and cards, and the balloons at 16 characters suit cards and printouts. Paste the piece into a document and set it to a monospace font so the edges line up.

How it works

How do I add a name to the cake?
Copy the happy birthday cake into a text editor, replace HAPPY or BIRTHDAY! with the name and pad with spaces so the right edge of the cake stays in the same column. Keep the name shorter than the space inside the box, or widen the box evenly on every line.
Can I make "Happy Birthday" in big letters?
Yes: type it into the text to ASCII generator and choose a font. It renders the words in big letters made of characters, ready to copy above a cake. Big letters usually look best above a cake rather than inside it, and a code block keeps them aligned.
How do I make a layered cake?
Add a second box under the first and put a line between the layers, then keep every line the same length. Count the characters inside the box and pad with spaces, or the right edge of the cake will look uneven.

Tips & limits

Why is the right edge of my cake uneven?
The lines inside the box are different lengths, or the app is using a proportional font. Count the characters, pad every line with spaces to the same length and paste the cake into a code block or monospace document. Counting the characters on each line is the quickest way to find the short one.
What is the best birthday ASCII art for a short message?
The candle. At 4 characters wide it fits in short messages, and it still reads as a birthday at a glance. For longer messages in a code block, use the small cake or the happy birthday cake. Add the greeting on the line above, and keep the candle on its own line.

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