Fix broken text
Repair text that was read with the wrong character set.
When a file written in windows-1251 is opened as something else, Russian text arrives as Привет or Ïðèâåò. Paste it here, or drop the file in, and it is read back the way it was written.
How to use it
- Paste the broken text, or switch to the file tab and add the file.
- The repaired text appears straight away, with the character set that was identified.
- If the guess is wrong, pick another reading from the list underneath.
Why use this tool
Completely private
Everything runs inside your browser. Your files and text are never sent to a server.
Free, with no limits
No sign-up, no watermarks and no cap on how many times you can use it.
Instant results
There is no upload or queue to wait for, so results appear as fast as your device can work.
Works on any device
Runs in any modern browser on phone, tablet or desktop. Nothing to install.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does this happen at all?
- Text is stored as numbers, and a character set says which letter each number means. When a file is written with one set and read with another, every letter comes out as the wrong one. Latin text mostly survives because the first 128 numbers agree everywhere; Cyrillic does not.
- Which is better, pasting or uploading?
- Uploading, when you have the file. A file still holds its original bytes, so the right character set can simply be applied — nothing is guessed and nothing is lost. Pasted text has already been decoded, so the damage has to be worked out backwards.
- Can every case be fixed?
- No. If the text was saved after being mangled and the wrong reading replaced characters with question marks, the original letters are gone for good. Anything that only looks wrong, rather than having been overwritten, is recoverable.
- What if the result is still wrong?
- Use the alternatives below the result. The tool picks whichever reading looks most like real language, but on short text several readings can look equally plausible, and you can see which one is right at a glance.