Character Encoding Converter

Convert and restore garbled Japanese text

UpdatesAdded new tool that can reproduce and automatically restore garbled charactersView Updates

Features

Generate all 9 common patterns at once

Comprehensive coverage of UTF-8, Shift_JIS, EUC-JP source data and 4 misreadings

Automatic restoration by pasting

Automatically searches for original Japanese candidates and displays them in readable order

Exclude uncertain results through validation

Only displays candidates that pass bidirectional verification for accurate results

Includes common scenarios and prevention methods

Explains typical situations and how to prevent each type of garbling

How to use

Select a mode

Switch between "Create garbled text" and "Restore garbled text" using tabs

Paste text

Paste the target text in the input field and conversion runs automatically

Check results

Copy what you need from the results list using copy buttons

Use cases

Decode garbled Excel CSV

Read corrupted cell contents and recover the correct data

Decode garbled email text

Restore unreadable email messages from business partners

Investigate character code configuration errors

Identify which character codes mismatched and prevent recurrence

Create sample garbled text for display testing

Prepare intentionally garbled strings to verify layout integrity

Basics

Why does character corruption occur?

Character corruption is a phenomenon where characters are replaced with meaningless symbols like "縺ゅ→" due to misinterpretation of character codes or similar causes.

Character code mismatch：Character code mismatch occurs when the character code used when saving (such as UTF-8 or Shift_JIS) differs from the interpretation when opening the file, and it is the most common cause of character corruption.
Use of platform-dependent characters：Platform-dependent characters are characters like circled numerals (①) that are only correctly displayed in specific environments and appear corrupted in other environments.
File corruption：File corruption occurs when data is partially lost due to transfer or storage errors, and in this case, the file cannot be restored even if the character code is corrected.

How to fix character corruption yourself

Corrupted text can be restored by matching the character code used when opening the file to the one used when saving.

Reopen in an editor：In text editors like Notepad, you can display the text correctly by switching the character code when opening to UTF-8 or Shift_JIS and reopening the file.
Use import for Excel：If a CSV file appears corrupted when opened in Excel, you can prevent this by using the import function to specify the character code instead of double-clicking.

What is a character code?

Character code：A character code is a rule that maps characters to numerical values for computer processing. In Japanese, UTF-8 and Shift_JIS are commonly used.
UTF-8：UTF-8 is the most widely adopted character code today that can represent characters from around the world in a single system, and the majority of web pages are written in this format.