The tool recovers readable text from TXT or CSV files that appear as gibberish due to incorrect encoding interpretation. It allows you to re-encode data into standard UTF-8, making it suitable for further processing. The result can be instantly previewed in the browser and downloaded as a corrected file.
When this is useful
An accountant exported an old price list to CSV from a legacy program, but opening it in Google Sheets replaced all Cyrillic characters with chaotic symbols. Using the tool, they select the source Windows-1251 encoding and instantly get a readable table. In another case, a user opened a years-old TXT notes file on a modern laptop, and the text turned into unreadable characters. They simply upload the file to the service, which automatically detects the correct encoding and returns the original notes.
Step-by-step instructions
- First, drag and drop the problematic TXT or CSV file into the upload area on the page, or paste the garbled text into the corresponding field.
- Then, from the dropdown list, select the suspected source encoding, such as 'Windows-1251', or leave the automatic detection active.
- Immediately after that, the recovered text will appear in the preview window.
- Once you are sure the result is correct, click the button to download the file in UTF-8 encoding.
How to verify the result
Carefully compare several fragments of the recovered text with the original, if available, especially proper names and numbers. If the automatic mode does not yield a readable result, manually try other popular encodings from the list, such as KOI8-R or Latin-1. For short strings or heavily corrupted data, full recovery is not guaranteed, so verify any critical information.
Important limitations
The tool works entirely in the browser and does not transmit your files to a server, which is important for confidential data. It is designed to fix single-step re-encoding errors, not to recover information damaged at the byte level. Please note that files larger than 20 MiB cannot be processed in the free version without a Plus subscription.