• Global Nav Open MenuGlobal Nav Close Menu
  • Apple
Search Support
Cancel
  • Apple
  • Mac
  • iPad
  • iPhone
  • TV
  • Music
  • Support
  • Where to Buy
TextEdit User Guide
Open MenuClose Menu
  • Communities
  • Contact Support
macOS Catalina 10.15
macOS Mojave 10.14
macOS High Sierra
Table of Contents

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.

Open TextEdit for me

Choose a different encoding for one document

  1. In the TextEdit app on your Mac, choose File > Open, then select the file (don’t open it).

  2. Click Options in the lower-left corner of the window.

  3. Click the Plain Text Encoding pop-up menu and choose an encoding.

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

  4. Click Open.

Choose a different encoding for all documents

  1. In the TextEdit app on your Mac, choose TextEdit > Preferences, then click Open and Save.

  2. Click the “Opening files” pop-up menu (under Plain Text File Encoding) and choose an encoding.

See alsoSet character and line spacing in TextEdit on Mac
Apple
  1. Support
  2. TextEdit User Guide
  3. If characters aren’t displayed correctly in TextEdit on Mac
Guinea-Bissau
Copyright © 2019 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.
Terms of Use Site Map