First, check the encoding
At the bottom right of the status bar, Notepad++ shows how it currently reads the file, such as UTF-8, UTF-8-BOM or ANSI. The Encoding menu has two kinds of entries that are often confused:
- ANSI, UTF-8, UTF-8-BOM (top of the menu): Notepad++ re-reads the existing bytes without changing the file – a display setting only.
- Convert to ANSI, Convert to UTF-8 … (bottom of the menu): Notepad++ writes the characters in the new encoding. Saving changes the file.
Case 1: é instead of é
The file is saved as UTF-8, but Notepad++ reads it as ANSI. Choose Encoding → UTF-8, and the characters appear correctly right away. Don’t convert: “Convert to UTF-8” would save the garbage é as real characters.
Case 2: xE9 or boxes instead of é
The file is saved in ANSI (Windows-1252) but read as UTF-8. First choose Encoding → ANSI so the characters appear correctly, then Convert to UTF-8. After saving, the file is UTF-8.
Case 3: the garbage is really in the file
If Notepad++ still shows ̩ with UTF-8 selected, the broken text has already been saved. Then no menu item helps reliably Рespecially not when correct and broken lines are mixed or the text is double-encoded. Drop the file into Mojibuster above: it repairs only the broken spots and shows you every change.
Before
Translation checked: café, naïve, résumé, Zürich – all correct.
After
Translation checked: café, naïve, résumé, Zürich – all correct.
Always create new files as UTF-8
Under Settings → Preferences → New Document, set the encoding for new files to UTF-8. For files Excel should open, UTF-8-BOM is the better choice – more on Excel showing special characters wrong. Scripts for Windows PowerShell 5.1 need a BOM too, see PowerShell.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the difference between UTF-8 and UTF-8-BOM?
Both store the characters the same way. UTF-8-BOM additionally writes three invisible bytes at the start, from which Excel and older programs recognize UTF-8.
Why does Notepad++ sometimes detect the encoding wrongly?
Files without a BOM contain no information about their encoding, so Notepad++ has to guess. With short files and few special characters, it’s wrong more often.
Can I convert several files at once?
In Notepad++ only with macros or plugins. In Mojibuster it’s one file after another – each one is done in seconds.