Heeeey lemlister! š
Annoyed by those ļæ½ symbols (diamond-wrapped question marks) in your CSV file? No worries! This happens when your file isnāt saved with the correct encodingāUTF-8. Letās fix that!
Why Encoding Matters
CSV files need to be UTF-8 encoded to handle special characters and non-English text properly. Many tools, like MS Excel, save files in different encoding standards depending on the operating system, causing display issues.
Hereās how you can save your CSV file in UTF-8 encoding using popular tools.
Fix 1: Save CSV as UTF-8 Using Google Docs
1ļøā£ Upload Your File to Google Docs
Go to Google Sheets and create new Sheet
Select File and click on Open to upload your CSV.
2ļøā£ Convert to Google Docs Format
In the upload settings, select āConvert text to numbers dates and formulasā
Click Import data.
3ļøā£ Download as UTF-8 CSV
Once the file is uploaded you need to export it as UTF-8 CSV file
Go to File > Download > Comma-separated values (.csv).
The downloaded file will now be UTF-8 encoded.
Fix 2: Save CSV as UTF-8 Using Open Office
1ļøā£ Open Your File
If possible, open it directly as a UTF-8 file.
2ļøā£ Save as CSV
Go to File > Save Asā¦
Select Text CSV as the file type.
3ļøā£ Set Encoding
In the Character Set field, choose Unicode (UTF-8).
Set the Field Delimiter to a comma (
,).
Why Google Docs Is a Great Option
Google Docs automatically convert files to UTF-8 encoding when exporting them as CSV. This ensures compatibility with lemlist and prevents issues with special characters.