Saving a CSV with UTF-8 Encoding

What is UTF-8?

UTF-8 stands for “Unicode Transformation Format - 8 bits.” Encoding allows computers to map characters to specific bytes in memory, and then to display the bytes as characters, e.g. on a web page. UTF-8 is the encoding form of the Unicode standard, the most widely used character encoding standard in the world. The W3C offers more detail on the importance of UTF-8 encoding.

Affinity and eMatch CSV files uploaded to Encoura must be encoded as UTF-8 to ensure compatibility with Encoura's database and matching processes. Further details on uploading files is available here: Upload Files in Data Center

NOTE: please save as UTF-8 without BOM, or "byte order mark". 

How do I save or convert a file to UTF-8?

There are several ways to save your CSV file with UTF-8 encoding, or to convert a file that has been saved with a different encoding. The process depends on the software you are using to create the CSV file. You may need to consult your software provider or support resource for your specific software. Following are several methods:

Notepad (Windows)

If you have a CSV file from another source, or you are starting with Notepad:

1. Open the CSV file in Notepad.
2. Go to File > Save As and select UTF-8 as the encoding option (use "UTF-8 no BOM" if available).
3. Click Save.

TextEdit (Mac)

TextEdit is the free text editor included in all versions of MacOS.

1. If your file is not already a CSV, ensure it is in Plain Text (Edit > Make Plain Text)
2. Go to File > Save 
3. Give the file a name and use .CSV as the extension
4. select Unicode (UTF-8) as the encoding option.
5. Click Save.

Microsoft Excel

We do not recommend using Excel to save a CSV file. Excel removes leading zeros and reformats dates and other data. If your data source is Excel, then follow these steps to save a UTF-8-encoded CSV file:

1. Open your file in Microsoft Excel, then click File > Save As
2. Select "CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv)" as your desired file format.
3. Click Save.

Google Sheets

1. Create a new Google Sheet.
2. From the new Google Sheet, go to File > Import.
3. Select the applicable CSV file from your local drive or drag it into the dialog box.
4. Important: Uncheck "Convert text to numbers, dates, and formulas"
   
   
   
   
5. Click Import data
6. Google Sheets will automatically convert the file to UTF-8 upon opening it.
7. To save the encoded file, go to File > Download. 
8. Select Comma Separated Values (CSV). The file will download as UTF-8.
   
   
   
   
9. NOTE: Once downloaded, do not open the file in another program, as it may be converted to another character encoding and the above workflow may have to be repeated.