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If characters aren’t displayed correctly

TextEdit uses a specific text encoding to display plain text documents based on their contents. If characters do not appear correctly, try choosing a different text encoding when you open the file.

To choose a different text encoding:

  1. In TextEdit, choose File > Open.

  2. Choose an encoding type from the Plain Text Encoding pop-up menu.

    If you don’t see the encoding you want to use, choose Customize Encodings List and then select the encodings you want to include.

  3. Select the file and then click Open.

To set the encoding TextEdit uses when you open all plain text documents, choose TextEdit > Preferences and then click “Open and Save.” Choose the encoding you want from the “Opening files” pop-up menu below Plain Text File Encoding.


Related Topics

formatting documents

formatting text