What is character encoding?

Character encoding is a system that maps characters to digital representations computers can store and process. Common encodings include UTF-8 (most universal Unicode encoding), UTF-16, ISO-8859-1 (Latin alphabet), GBK (Simplified Chinese), Shift-JIS (Japanese), etc. Using the wrong encoding causes garbled text (mojibake).

How is UTF-8 different from GBK?

UTF-8 is a variable-width Unicode encoding using 1-4 bytes per character, globally compatible. GBK is a Chinese national standard using 1-2 bytes for Chinese characters, mainly for Chinese environments. UTF-8 is backward-compatible with ASCII, recommended for multilingual support.

How can I determine a file's encoding?

Several methods: 1) Upload the file to this online tool for automatic detection; 2) Check encoding settings in your text editor; 3) Look for BOM (Byte Order Mark) header bytes; 4) Use command-line tools like 'file' command. This tool provides the most convenient web-based detection.

Why does my text file display as garbled characters?

Garbled text (mojibake) occurs when a file is opened with the wrong encoding. For example, opening a UTF-8 file with GBK encoding produces garbled text. Use this tool to detect the original encoding, then reopen the file with the correct encoding to restore normal display.

What encodings does this tool support?

This tool supports detection of UTF-8, UTF-16LE, UTF-16BE, UTF-32LE, UTF-32BE, ISO-8859-1 through ISO-8859-16, GBK, GB2312, Shift-JIS (Japanese), EUC-JP, EUC-KR (Korean), Big5 (Traditional Chinese), Windows-1252, KOI8-R, and other common encoding formats.

Text Encoding Detector · Free Online Character Encoding Identifier

📝 Input Text or Upload File

📄 Click to select file or drag & drop here

Supports .txt .html .xml .csv .json .js .css .md and more

— or paste text directly —

0 bytes

📖 How to Use

✦ Quick Start

Upload a file or paste text content directly.
Click "Detect Encoding" to analyze character encoding automatically.
View detected encoding formats with confidence scores. Multiple encodings are compared.

✦ Why Encoding Detection Matters

In web development, data processing, and cross-platform collaboration, encoding mismatch is the most common cause of garbled text. Correctly identifying file encoding prevents data loss and mojibake. Especially when handling files from different regions or systems, encoding detection is the essential first step.

✦ Common Encoding Overview

UTF-8: The most universal encoding on the internet, ASCII-compatible, supports all Unicode characters. ISO-8859-1: Western European encoding (Latin-1). Shift-JIS: Japanese encoding. GBK/GB2312: Simplified Chinese encodings. Big5: Traditional Chinese encoding. EUC-KR: Korean encoding. UTF-8 is recommended for multilingual support.

✦ What is BOM?

BOM (Byte Order Mark) is a special byte sequence at the start of a file that identifies encoding and byte order. UTF-16 and UTF-32 typically include BOM. UTF-8 BOM (EF BB BF) is optional. This tool automatically detects BOM headers.

🔍 Text Encoding Detector