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If characters aren’t displayed correctly in TextEdit on Mac
By default, TextEdit uses its automatic text encoding to display documents. If characters aren’t appearing correctly, try choosing a different encoding when you open the file.
Choose a different encoding for one document
In the TextEdit app
on your Mac, choose File > Open, then select the file (don’t open it).
Click Options in the lower-left corner of the window.
Click the Plain Text Encoding pop-up menu and choose an encoding.
If you don’t see the encoding you want, choose Customise Encodings List, then select the encodings to include.
Click Open.
Choose a different encoding for all documents
In the TextEdit app
on your Mac, choose TextEdit > Settings, then click Open and Save.
Click the “Opening files” pop-up menu (under Plain Text File Encoding) and choose an encoding.