Hieroglyphs in Notepad Windows 10: reasons and fix (2026)

You have opened a text file in standard Notepad Windows 10, and instead of the usual letters - a meaningless set of squares, question marks or Chinese characters? This problem is familiar to many users, especially when working with files created on other devices or in alternative text editors. The reason lies in encoding mismatch — the way a computer interprets characters in a file.

In 90% of cases the encoding is to blame UTF-8, which Windows 10 Notepad does not recognize correctly by default when opening files saved on other systems (for example, Linux or macOS). But there are other scenarios: damaged files, errors during network transmission, or even virus activity. In this article we will look at all possible reasons the appearance of hieroglyphs and give step-by-step instructions for eliminating them - from the simplest actions to advanced methods for experienced users.

Why does Notepad show hieroglyphs instead of text?

The root of the problem lies in encoding mismatch — a set of rules by which characters are converted to binary code and vice versa. When Notepad opens a file, it "thinks" the text is encoded in one system (for example, Windows-1251), but in fact another one is used (for example, UTF-8). As a result, instead of letters you see:

• 🔲 Squares or empty characters (a sign of a completely unreadable encoding).
• 📜 Chinese/Japanese characters (typical for UTF-8, open as ANSI).
• ❓ Question marks or diamonds with questions (signal of lost characters).
• 🗑️ A mixture of letters and garbage (partially damaged file).

Main reasons:

1. The file is saved in UTF-8 without BOM - a modern encoding standard that Windows 10 Notepad does not always recognize.
2. Transferring a file between different OSes (for example, with Mac on Windows or from Linux).
3. File corruption when downloading from the Internet, copying from a flash drive or disk error.
4. Viral activity — some malware deliberately corrupts file encoding.
5. Errors in Notepad itself (rare, but occurs after Windows updates).

Interestingly, the problem occurs more often with files containing Cyrillic alphabet or special characters (for example, €, ©). English text in UTF-8 Notepad sometimes opens correctly, but Russian almost always turns it into hieroglyphs.

Method 1: Save the file in the correct encoding

The simplest solution is force the file to be saved in an encoding that Notepad understands. To do this:

1. Open the problematic file in Notepad.
2. Click File → Save As....
3. At the bottom of the save window, find the field Encoding and select:

If after saving the text is still unreadable, try a different encoding option. For example, for files from old programs (For example, 1C 7.7) may be required OEM 866.

⚠️ Attention: When saving to ANSI some characters (for example, —, «», €) can be replaced by ?. In this case use UTF-8.

Method 2: Using Alternative Text Editors

The standard Windows 10 Notepad has limited capabilities for working with encodings. If the first method did not help, use specialized editors, which automatically detect the encoding and offer correction options:

• 📝 Notepad++ — a free editor with support for dozens of encodings. Automatically detects UTF-8, ANSI, Unicode etc.
• 💻 Visual Studio Code — a powerful tool with a built-in encoding detector. Highlights problems in the lower right corner.
• 📄 Sublime Text - lightweight editor with support UTF-8, UTF-16, Windows-1251.
• 🔧 AkelPad — a compact alternative to Notepad with advanced encoding settings.

Instructions for Notepad++:

1. Open the file in the program.
2. From the menu, select Encodings → Convert to ANSI or Convert to UTF-8.
3. If the text is still unreadable, try Encodings → Define encoding (plugin Encoding Detector).

For Visual Studio Code:

1. Open the file. The current encoding will appear in the lower right corner (for example, UTF-8 or Windows-1252).
2. Click on it and select Reopen with Encoding, then try Windows-1251 or UTF-8 with BOM.

⚠️ Attention: When opening a file in Notepad++ or VS Code don't save it right away — first check that the text is displayed correctly. Some editors automatically change the encoding when saving.

Method 3: Convert encoding via command line

For advanced users there is a way to fix the encoding without installing additional programs - using built-in Windows utilities. We will use PowerShell And iconv (the latter will have to be downloaded separately).

Method 1: PowerShell (no software installation)

1. Open PowerShell as administrator (click Win + X and select Windows PowerShell (Administrator)).
2. Enter the command to read the file in UTF-8 and saving in ANSI:

   Get-Content -Encoding UTF8 "C:\путь\к\файлу.txt" | Out-File -Encoding Default "C:\путь\к\новому_файлу.txt"

3. Replace the paths with the current ones. If you need it the other way around (from ANSI in UTF-8), use:

   Get-Content -Encoding Default "C:\путь\к\файлу.txt" | Out-File -Encoding UTF8 "C:\путь\к\новому_файлу.txt"

Method 2: iconv utility (requires installation)

1. Download iconv for Windows (for example, with GNUWin32).
2. Unpack the archive and add the path to iconv.exe into a variable PATH (or run the utility from the folder).
3. Run the command to convert:

   iconv -f UTF-8 -t WINDOWS-1251 input.txt > output.txt

   where -f - source encoding, -t - target.

These methods are useful for batch processing - for example, if you need to transcode hundreds of files in a folder. To do this, use a loop in PowerShell:

Get-ChildItem "C:\путь\к\папке\*.txt" | ForEach-Object {
Get-Content -Encoding UTF8 $_.FullName | Out-File -Encoding Default ("C:\выход\" + $_.Name)
}

⚠️ Attention: When converting via command line always create a new file instead of overwriting the original. An error in the command can lead to data loss!

Method 4: Recovering damaged files

If the hieroglyphs appeared due to file corruption (for example, after a copying failure or a virus attack), standard methods of changing the encoding will not help. In this case:

• 🔍 Check the file for viruses with the help Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool or Dr.Web CureIt!. Some malware deliberately corrupts the encoding.
• 💾 Restore the previous version of the file (if Windows backup is enabled). To do this:

1. Right click on the file → Properties → tab Previous versions.
2. Select the latest working version and click Restore.

• 📥 Use text recovery programs, for example:

If the file is partially damaged, try opening it in WordPad (included with Windows) - sometimes it copes with reading where Notepad is powerless. You can also try import text into Microsoft Word:

1. Open Word.
2. Go to File → Open and select the problematic file.
3. In the import window, select the encoding Other and try the options (Cyrillic (Windows), Unicode (UTF-8)).

Method 5: Set Notepad as default (Windows 10 1903 and later)

In updated versions of Windows 10 (starting with May 2019 Update, version 1903) Notepad received support UTF-8. However, by default it still opens files in ANSI. To fix this:

1. Open Windows Settings (Win + I).
2. Go to Applications → Default Applications.
3. Find Notepad and press Additional options.
4. Enable the option "Always save in UTF-8".

If this option is not available, update Windows to the latest version or use registry editor:

1. Click Win + R, enter regedit and press Enter.
2. Follow the path:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Notepad

3. Create a new parameter DWORD (32-bit) with name fSaveUnicode and meaning 1.
4. Create another parameter DWORD (32-bit) with name iDefaultEncoding and meaning 1 (for UTF-8) or 0 (for ANSI).

After these steps, Notepad will be automatically save new files in UTF-8, but old ones may still not open correctly. For these, use the methods from the previous sections.

Method 6: Check and fix system fonts

It's rare, but it happens that hieroglyphs appear due to damaged system fonts, responsible for displaying text. This manifests itself not only in Notepad, but also in other programs. To check:

1. Open Control Panel → Fonts.
2. Make sure the standard fonts are present: Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, Lucida Console.
3. If fonts are missing, restore them via DISM:

   DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

You can also reset the font cache:

1. Close all programs.
2. Delete files in the folder:

   C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\FontCache

3. Restart your computer.

If the problem persists, try replace default font in Notepad:

1. Open Notepad and enter any text.
2. Click Format → Font and select Consolas or Lucida Console.
3. Save the file and check if the hieroglyphs have disappeared.

Method 7: Check for hardware errors

If hieroglyphs appear in all files, including newly created ones, the problem may be related to hardware failures:

• 💽 Damaged hard drive - check disk health using CrystalDiskInfo or commands:

  wmic diskdrive get status

  Status OK means the disk is ok. If there are errors, use chkdsk:

  chkdsk C: /f /r

• 🖥️ RAM errors — run the test:

  mdsched.exe

  and restart your computer to check.

• 🔌 Cache problems - reset Windows cache:

  ipconfig /flushdns

  (sometimes helps with network errors affecting files).

If tests show errors, backup your data immediately and contact the service center. A damaged disk can permanently fail, rendering files unrecoverable.

⚠️ Attention: Don't ignore SMART disk errors (For example, Reallocated Sectors Count or Pending Sectors). These are signs of imminent hard drive failure!

FAQ: Frequently asked questions about hieroglyphs in Notepad

Get-ChildItem "C:\путь\*.txt" | ForEach-Object {
$content = Get-Content -Encoding UTF8 $_.FullName
$content | Out-File -Encoding Default ("C:\выход\" + $_.Name)
}