TL;DR
If imported names or fields show diamond-wrapped question marks (�) instead of accented characters (é, à, ñ), your CSV file wasn't saved in UTF-8 encoding. Convert the file to UTF-8 before importing: upload to Google Sheets and download as CSV, or use OpenOffice and select Unicode (UTF-8) character set when saving.
Symptoms
Accented characters (é, à, ñ, ü) appear as � or a diamond with a question mark after importing CSV
Leads imported from CSV show garbled names or custom variables even though the file looks correct in Excel
Only fields containing special characters are affected—plain ASCII text is unchanged
Question marks appear in firstName, lastName, companyName, or custom variables
Environment
Applies to:
CSV imports where the source file was created or edited in programs that don't export UTF-8 by default (e.g., Excel on Windows)
Users with access to Google Sheets or OpenOffice/LibreOffice to convert files
lemlist expects: CSV files to be UTF-8 encoded
Step-by-Step Fix
Option A: Convert using Google Sheets (recommended)
Upload CSV to Google Sheets
Open Google Sheets and create a new blank spreadsheet. Go to File → Open, select your .csv file, and choose Upload. Check the option "Convert text to numbers, dates and formulas" if prompted.
✅ Verify: Your data appears in Google Sheets with accented characters displayed correctly.
Download as UTF-8 CSV
Go to File → Download → Comma-separated values (.csv). Google Sheets automatically saves the file with UTF-8 encoding.
✅ Verify: The downloaded file is named with .csv extension.
Import into lemlist
Go to your lemlist campaign → Leads → Import → CSV. Upload the downloaded CSV file.
✅ Verify: Accented characters (é, à, ñ) display correctly in lead names and custom variables.
Option B: Convert using OpenOffice or LibreOffice
Open CSV in OpenOffice
Open your .csv file with OpenOffice or LibreOffice Calc.
Save as UTF-8 CSV
Go to File → Save As…. Select Text CSV as the file type. In the Character Set dropdown, select Unicode (UTF-8). Set the Field Delimiter to a comma (,). Click Save.
✅ Verify: A dialog confirms you're saving as Text CSV with UTF-8 encoding.
Import into lemlist
Go to your lemlist campaign → Leads → Import → CSV. Upload the saved CSV file.
✅ Verify: Accented characters display correctly in lemlist.
Confirm It's Fixed
✓ CSV file opens in a text editor and shows accented characters normally (not replacement symbols)
✓ When you import the converted CSV, lead names and custom variables containing special characters display correctly in lemlist
✓ No � symbols or question marks in your lead data after import
Why It Happens / Prevent This
CSV files can be saved in various character encodings. lemlist expects UTF-8 because it supports a wide range of characters (accented letters, non-Latin scripts, special symbols).
When a file is saved in a different encoding (e.g., ANSI, ISO-8859-1, Windows-1252), special characters are not interpreted correctly and are replaced by a question mark symbol (�).
Common causes:
Excel on Windows saves CSV files in ANSI/Windows-1252 encoding by default
Exporting from CRMs or databases without specifying UTF-8
Copying data from sources with different character encodings
To prevent this:
Always convert CSV files to UTF-8 before importing to lemlist
Use Google Sheets for CSV creation—it exports UTF-8 by default
If using Excel, save as "CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited)" (not "CSV (Comma delimited)")
Alternatives
Use a text editor with encoding control: Open your CSV in Visual Studio Code, Notepad++, or Sublime Text. Save the file with UTF-8 encoding (usually an option in "Save As" or "Encoding" menu).
Remove accents before import: If your data doesn't contain special characters, you can remove accents manually before importing (though this reduces personalization quality).
Use Excel's UTF-8 export: In recent Excel versions (2016+), use File → Save As → CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) instead of the regular CSV option.
Escalate If Unresolved
If converting your file doesn't solve the problem, provide lemlist support with:
The affected CSV file (or a sample with dummy data)
The tool/program you used to create the file (e.g., "Excel 2019 on Windows 10")
Screenshot showing the � symbols in lemlist after import
Confirmation that you followed the UTF-8 conversion steps
Additional checks:
Open the CSV in a plain text editor (Notepad, TextEdit) to confirm it's comma-separated (not tab-separated or Excel format)
Verify the file extension is
.csv(not.xlsxrenamed to.csv)