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Text Encoding Detector & Converter

Detect the encoding of old text and subtitle files (Windows-1252, Shift_JIS, GBK and more) and convert them to UTF-8.

Free, no uploads, no sign-up. Runs 100% in your browser.

How Text Encoding Detector & Converter works

The file is checked for a byte order mark and for valid UTF-8 first. If neither fits, it is decoded with 20 or more legacy code pages using the browser TextDecoder, and each result is scored on unreadable characters and mixed scripts. You can pick another encoding and watch the preview, then save as UTF-8 or UTF-16 with the line endings you want.

Input: TXT, SRT, CSV, Any text. Output: TXT, ZIP.

How to use Text Encoding Detector & Converter

1. Open Text Encoding Detector & Converter and paste your text.
2. Choose an operation or option.
3. Review the live result.
4. Copy it or download it.

Tips

• Text never leaves your device, so it is safe for drafts and private notes.

Text Encoding Detector & Converter FAQ

Are my files uploaded?

No. This tool runs entirely in your browser tab. Files are read from your disk into memory and the result is generated locally.

Is it free? Are there limits or watermarks?

Free and open source (MIT). There are no file-size caps, daily quotas, accounts or watermarks.

Does it work offline?

Yes, once the page (and any engine it needs) has loaded, it keeps working without a connection thanks to the service worker cache.

Related tools

• Subtitle Converter: Convert between SRT, VTT, ASS, SSA, SBV, SUB, LRC, SAMI, TTML, JSON and CSV in bulk.
• Unicode Inspector & Invisible Character Finder: See every code point, find zero-width and look-alike characters, and normalize to NFC, NFD, NFKC or NFKD.
• Text Cleaner: Remove duplicates, sort lines, trim spaces and strip line breaks.
• Diff Checker: Compare text and code side-by-side or inline.