Character Encoding Converter & Mojibake Fixer
Choose a text file to auto-detect its encoding, preview the contents, and download it converted to Shift_JIS, EUC-JP, UTF-8 and more. Use "Mojibake fixer" to paste garbled Japanese text and see whether it can be restored. To normalize newlines, try the Line Ending Converter; for percent-encoding, see the URL Encoder/Decoder.
🔒 Runs in your browser · Your data is never sent to a server
Choose a CSV, text or log file, or drag and drop it here. It is processed in your browser and never uploaded.
Possible fixes
Paste garbled text to diagnose it.
Notes
- Encoding detection is a best guess. Short texts may be ambiguous, e.g. between Shift_JIS and EUC-JP. If the result looks wrong, choose the "Read as" encoding manually.
- When UTF-8 was misread as Shift_JIS or similar, some bytes are lost and appear as "�", so the text cannot be restored completely — readable parts are recovered and lost parts stay as "�". If possible, load the original, un-garbled file directly into this tool instead.
- Shift_JIS is handled as Windows CP932, so characters like ① and the wave dash convert fine. Characters that do not exist in SJIS/EUC-JP, such as emoji, are replaced with "?".
Glossary
Character encoding
A rule for representing characters as numbers (bytes). Japanese text commonly uses UTF-8, Shift_JIS or EUC-JP. If the encoding used when saving differs from the one used when reading, the text becomes garbled.
Shift_JIS / EUC-JP / UTF-8
Shift_JIS (SJIS) is a Japanese encoding common in older Windows software and CSV files. EUC-JP was used on Unix-like systems. UTF-8 can represent characters from every language and is today's standard for websites and modern systems.
BOM (byte order mark)
A short byte sequence at the start of a file that hints at its encoding. Adding a BOM helps Excel open UTF-8 CSV files correctly, but some programs misbehave when a BOM is present.
Mojibake
Garbled, meaningless characters that appear when text is read with a different encoding than it was written in. For example, UTF-8 Japanese read as Shift_JIS turns into strings like 縺薙ｓ縺ｫ縺｡縺ｯ.
FAQ
Is automatic encoding detection reliable?
No, detection is a best guess. Short texts in encodings such as Shift_JIS and EUC-JP can be indistinguishable. If the result looks wrong, choose the source encoding manually.
Can I repair text that is already garbled?
Parts that were lost and turned into "�" cannot be restored. If possible, load the original file directly into this tool before it gets garbled.
What happens to characters that cannot be converted?
Shift_JIS is handled as Windows CP932, so characters like ① convert fine. Characters absent from the target encoding, such as emoji, are replaced with "?".
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