My CSV shows é where it should show é
Names and addresses are full of sequences like é, ü, or ’ where accented letters, umlauts, and apostrophes should be.
Why it happens
- Text on disk is bytes, and the same bytes mean different characters under different encodings.
- Excel is the usual site of the mismatch because opening a CSV by double-clicking uses a system default rather than asking.
- The question marks and diamonds are a different and worse case.
- A byte order mark at the start of the file is the usual peace offering: a few bytes that announce the encoding.
What to do now
- Reopen the original file rather than repairing the text.
- Ask for the export as UTF-8 with a byte order mark if the sender's tool offers it.
- Do not repair mojibake with find-and-replace.
- If the file already contains question marks or diamonds, ask for it again.
Next time
The byte order mark is stripped on the way in, so it never arrives as a stray character in your first column.
Start from the contact list template.
Related problems
My dates imported as five-digit numbersA column that should hold dates contains numbers around 45000 instead.My file has dates that do not existA date column contains days that are not on the calendar: a 31st in a thirty-day month, or a 29 February in a year that has no such day.(1,234.56) is not being read as a negative numberAmounts wrapped in parentheses either fail to import or come through as positive numbers.The same email address is in my list twiceA contact list contains what is obviously the same person more than once.