TextEdit coding issue

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Level 1

9 points

TextEdit coding issue

When I edit and save text file, TextEdit saves it with recognized text coding (that is correct) but marks file with different coding definition, e.g. my file has UTF-8 coding (I can check it with other app), after a save in TextEdit the coding is still UTF-8 but other apps recognize UTF-16 or WinLatin2 or something else, so the text is displayed in other apps incorrectly, but when I select manually UTF-8 then the text looks OK. I tried different settings but nothing helped (doesn't matter which coding I select for saving the result is the same).

I have macOS Catalina. In the past it worked correctly (about 2 years ago), I don't know when it was broken.

Mac mini, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jan 22, 2020 2:58 PM

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Answer 1

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

123,000 points

Jan 22, 2020 8:42 PM in response to centauria

When TextEdit saves a plain text file as utf-8, it does so without adding a BOM at the beginning. Some apps will assume that a file without a BOM at the beginning is in their local default encoding, which may not be utf-8 but one of the WinLatin varieties or MacRoman. In such a case you need to select utf-8 manually.

To save files as utf-8 with a BOM on a Mac, which other apps will then normally recognize as utf-8, I think you need to use a different app, like BBEdit.

Saving as utf-16 in TextEdit may also work, but I have not tested that recently.

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TextEdit coding issue

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