“CSV files are garbled when opened in Excel! ” How to safely fix it using just a browser

1. I sympathize with this problem: I can't read important data! Frustrating garbled characters

"I downloaded a CSV file from an in-house management system or cloud service, but when I opened it in Excel, the kanji and alphabets were all messed up..."

"I wanted to quickly check sales and customer data, but I was faced with a strange list of symbols that filled the screen, and I didn't know what to do, so my work stopped..."

Have you ever faced such trouble?

Garbled characters when opening a CSV file in Excel are a typical example of frustration'' that is very common for people who do office work or data analysis. Some people worry that their computer is broken, but the cause lies in a simpler difference in the way computers use language.''

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2. Explanation of the cause: Why do garbled characters occur when opening CSV in Excel?

The reason why characters are garbled is because the character code of the system that wrote the file does not match the character code that Excel tries to read the file with.

Many modern web systems and IT tools output CSV files in the character code UTF-8'', which can handle multiple languages ​​as a global standard.

On the other hand, when Microsoft Excel for Windows opens a CSV file by "double-clicking" in a Japanese environment, it tries to interpret the contents of the file using the character code **"Shift_JIS (CP932)", which is the old standard in Japan.

If the character code is misaligned, the computer will display a sequence of 1's and 0's (data) on the screen as completely different characters, resulting in a pile of unreadable symbols (garbled characters).

To resolve this, you need to take one of the following approaches:

• Perform a tedious import operation: You need to go through a complicated wizard from the "Data" tab in Excel to re-specify it as UTF-8 (it takes a lot of effort to do it every time).
• Using an insecure conversion site: You can convert files by uploading them to a free online conversion site, but since customer data and sales information is sent to an external server, there is a high risk of information leakage and is very dangerous.

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3． Solution using tools: Safe and instant repair with ZeroTools character code conversion

"I don't want to use a tedious wizard, but I can't upload important data to the Internet..."

Our site's Character code mutual conversion & Excel CSV garbled character removal tool solves that problem in an instant.

This tool converts character codes using only the processing power of your browser (local PC), so file data is never sent to an external server over the Internet.

3 steps to solve the problem

1. Open the Character code mutual conversion & Excel CSV garbled character removal tool page.

2. Specify the garbled CSV file from "Select File" or drag and drop it into the frame. (The current character code will be automatically detected as UTF-8 and normal Japanese data will be displayed on the preview screen.)

3. Select Shift_JIS as the character code after conversion, and click "Convert and download character code".

Just double-click the saved new CSV file and it will be displayed neatly in Excel without any garbled characters. Please take advantage of this smart solution that can be completed safely and only on your computer.