CSV File UTF-8 Encoding Error

You downloaded your CTX Feed CSV file, opened it in Excel or another program, and now the text looks broken — letters like ä, ö, ü, ñ, é, or characters from Arabic, Japanese, or Chinese scripts show up as garbled symbols or question marks.

The file itself is fine. The problem is how your program is reading it. CTX Feed exports all CSV files in UTF-8 encoding so they can carry any language or special character. Microsoft Excel, by default, does not open UTF-8 files correctly — it assumes an older encoding and misreads the characters. This guide shows you how to fix that.

Why does this happen?

UTF-8 is the global standard

UTF-8 can encode every character in every language — from standard English letters to accented characters, Arabic script, Chinese characters, and emoji. Every product feed channel (Google, Meta, Bing, etc.) requires UTF-8 encoded files. CTX Feed always exports in UTF-8 for this reason.

Excel doesn’t auto-detect UTF-8 when you double-click a CSV

When you double-click a .csv file on Windows, Excel opens it using your system’s default encoding (usually Windows-1252 or ANSI). This is a different encoding and can’t read UTF-8 characters correctly, so they come out as symbols. The fix is to import the file manually and tell Excel to use UTF-8.

The file is not corrupted

You don’t need to regenerate the feed or change any CTX Feed settings. Open the file correctly and all characters will display as expected.

What Does the Error Look Like?

Here are the most common symptoms when a CSV is opened with the wrong encoding:

Choose Your Method

Pick the option that matches the tool you use:

• Method 1 — Google Sheets: Handles UTF-8 automatically. No setup needed. Best option if you just need to view or edit the file.
• Method 2 — Microsoft Excel (Text Import): Works on Excel 2007 and later. You import the file manually and choose UTF-8 encoding during the import wizard.
• Method 3 — Excel via Power Query: Available in Excel 2016 and later. A more modern import method that lets you set encoding before loading the data.
• Method 4 — Convert with Notepad: A quick fix — open the file in Notepad, re-save it with UTF-8 BOM encoding, then open normally in Excel.

Method 1 — Google Sheets (Easiest)

1. Open Google Sheets and import your file

Google Sheets reads UTF-8 automatically — no settings needed

• Go to sheets.google.com and open a new spreadsheet.
• Click File → Import. In the dialog that opens, click Upload and select your CSV file.
• On the import settings screen, set Import location to Replace spreadsheet (or your preferred option), set Separator type to Comma, then click Import data.
• All characters — including accented letters, Arabic, Chinese, and other scripts — will display correctly. Google Sheets handles UTF-8 without any extra steps.

Method 2 — Microsoft Excel (Text Import Wizard)

Do not double-click the CSV file. That bypasses the encoding settings. Instead, open Excel first and import the file from inside Excel.

1 Open Excel and go to the Data tab

• Start from inside Excel — don’t open the file directly
• Open Microsoft Excel. Do not open the CSV file yet.
• Click the Data tab in the top menu bar.

2. Click “From Text” and select your file

• This opens the Text Import Wizard
• In the Data tab, click From Text (or Get Data → From File → From Text/CSV in newer Excel versions).
• Navigate to the location of your CSV file. Click the filename to select it, then click Import.
• The Text Import Wizard window will open. It has three steps.

3 Wizard Step 1 of 3 — Set file origin to UTF-8

This is the most important step

• You will see options for the original data type and File origin.
• For Original data type, select Delimited. This means the columns in your file are separated by a character (a comma), not fixed-width spacing.
• For File origin, open the dropdown and select 65001: Unicode (UTF-8).
• Click Next to continue.

⚠️ This is the key setting. If you skip this step or leave it on the default value, the characters will still appear broken. Make sure you set File origin to 65001: Unicode (UTF-8)before clicking Next.

4. Wizard Step 2 of 3 — Set the delimiter to Comma

This tells Excel how the columns are separated

• You will see a list of delimiter options: Tab, Semicolon, Comma, Space, and Other. Tick the box next to Comma. Untick any others that are checked.
• The Data preview panel at the bottom will update to show your data split into columns. If the columns look correct — one piece of data per column — you have the right delimiter.
• Click Next to continue.

💡If the data preview still looks like one long line, try selecting Semicolon instead of Comma. Some CSV files use semicolons, depending on regional settings.

5. Wizard Step 3 of 3 — Set column data formats

Optional but recommended for price and ID columns

• This step lets you choose how each column is formatted — as General, Text, or Date. For most columns, leaving it as General is fine.
• For columns that contain product IDs, GTINs, or any number that should not be treated as a numeric value, click that column in the preview and select Text. This prevents Excel from stripping leading zeros or converting long numbers to scientific notation (like 1.23E+12).
• Click Finish.

Excel will ask where to place the data. Select your preferred location (usually the existing sheet at the cell $A$1) and click OK. Your data will load with all characters displayed correctly.

ℹ️ Skip columns you don’t need If there are columns you want to exclude, click them in the preview and select Do not import column (skip).

Method 3 — Excel Power Query (Excel 2016 and Later)

Power Query is a more modern way to import data. It gives you a preview before loading and lets you set the encoding clearly.

1. Open via Data → Get Data

Available in Excel 2016, 2019, and Microsoft 365

• In Excel, click the Data tab, then click Get Data → From File → From Text/CSV.
• Select your CSV file and click Import. A preview window will open. Near the top you will see a File Origin dropdown.
• Change File Origin to 65001: Unicode (UTF-8). The preview below will refresh and show the correct characters.
• Set the Delimiter dropdown to Comma, then click Load to import the data into your spreadsheet.

Method 4 — Quick Fix with Notepad

If you want to open the file with a simple double-click after this, you can re-save it with UTF-8 BOM encoding using Notepad. The BOM (Byte Order Mark) is a small marker that tells Excel the file is UTF-8, so it reads it correctly on double-click.

1. Open the CSV file in Notepad

Right-click the file — don’t double-click

• Right-click your CSV file in Windows Explorer. Choose Open with → Notepad.
• The file will open and may look like garbled text in Notepad too — that is expected. You are not here to read the content, just to re-save it with the correct encoding.

2. Save As with UTF-8 BOM encoding

Choose the right encoding in the Save dialog

• In Notepad, click File → Save As. At the bottom of the Save As dialog, find the Encoding dropdown. Change it from ANSI or UTF-8 to UTF-8 with BOM.
• Keep the same filename and click Save. If prompted to replace the file, click Yes.
• Now double-click the file to open it in Excel. All characters should display correctly without the import wizard.

⚠️ Only use this for viewing — not for uploading. The BOM marker added by this method can cause issues if you upload the file to a feed channel or use it in automated processing. Keep a backup of the original file and only use this BOM version for local viewing in Excel.

Quick Reference — Which Method Should You Use?

The feed file is always correct. You never need to change any CTX Feed settings or regenerate the feed because of an encoding error. The feed exports as UTF-8 by design. The fix is always in how you open the file, not in the file itself.