How can I change a file's encoding with vim?

Question

I'm used to using vim to modify a file's line endings:

$ file file
file: ASCII text, with CRLF line terminators
$ vim file
:set ff=mac
:wq
$ file file
file: ASCII text, with CR line terminators

Is it possible to use a similar process to change a file's unicode encoding? I'm trying the following, which doesn't work:

$ file file.xml
file.xml: Unicode text, UTF-16, little-endian
$ vim file
:set encoding=utf-8
:wq
$ file file.xml
file.xml: Unicode text, UTF-16, little-endian

I saw someone say that he could "set fileencoding=utf-8, then update and write the file, and it works," but I seem to be missing something, or else he was confused. I don't know what he meant by "then update."

score 286 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 27 '12 at 17:43

286

From the doc:

:write ++enc=utf-8 russian.txt

So you should be able to change the encoding as part of the write command.

edited Jun 27 '12 at 17:43

Johan

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answered Apr 22 '09 at 16:25

Brian Agnew

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updated documentation link: http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/usr_45.html#45.4 – Brian Rogers May 10 '12 at 18:10

score 187 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 06 '18 at 17:56

187

Notice that there is a difference between

set encoding

and

set fileencoding

In the first case, you'll change the output encoding that is shown in the terminal. In the second case, you'll change the output encoding of the file that is written.

edited Jun 06 '18 at 17:56

Cristian Ciupitu

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answered Sep 22 '09 at 11:51

Johan

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thank you! Apache was outputting utf-8, so was php, so the browser said, so vim said with `set encoding`, and still the pages showed mangled characters that were alright as iso-8859-1. using `set fileencoding` showed a pretty 'Latin1' – Adriano Varoli Piazza Mar 08 '10 at 18:29

score 86 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 22 '09 at 12:16

86

While using vim to do it is perfectly possible, why don't you simply use iconv? I mean - loading text editor just to do encoding conversion seems like using too big hammer for too small nail.

Just:

iconv -f utf-16 -t utf-8 file.xml > file.utf8.xml

And you're done.

answered Sep 22 '09 at 12:16

Plus, this can be easily scripted for more files. +1 – Adriano Varoli Piazza Mar 08 '10 at 17:02
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Downside, iconv might not be easily available on Windows. – Adriano Varoli Piazza Mar 08 '10 at 18:23
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@AdrianoVaroliPiazza neither vim. – Mar 06 '15 at 21:58
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I'd say multiple "just install" downloads, with even a portable edition" constitutes "easily available". – Adriano Varoli Piazza Mar 07 '15 at 17:41
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@adriano-varoli-piazza No, iconv is available on Windows with Cygwin and MingW, as @ coder-tim noted. – t0r0X May 18 '17 at 23:08
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@mario No, Vim very easily available on Windows: http://www.vim.org/download.php#pc – t0r0X May 18 '17 at 23:08

score 60 · Answer 4 · answered May 01 '09 at 07:18

60

Just like your steps, setting fileencoding should work. However, I'd like to add one "set bomb" to help editor consider the file as UTF8.

$ vim file
:set bomb
:set fileencoding=utf-8
:wq

answered May 01 '09 at 07:18

Francis

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Thanks for your answer, it led me to learn more about the UTF byte order mark. However FYI, setting a BOM seems unnecessary/inadvisable for UTF-8 since it's not a fixed byte-length format like 16 or 32. See [here](http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Working_with_Unicode) for an explanation and reference. It's not a problem (and even helpful) for vim, I just thought people should just be aware that it may cause compatibility issues elsewhere. – joelhardi Jun 01 '11 at 19:22
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Is it `bomb` or `bom`, and can it be `unset`? **EDIT**: Yes, you can remove it via `set nobomb`. – icedwater Jul 01 '14 at 02:33
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Yes, VIm set up us the `bomb` (with a b). – ruffin Oct 16 '14 at 14:57
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per the docs, `:set bomb` is turned on if `:set fenc=utf-8`.. see `:he bomb` – Evan Carroll Dec 04 '14 at 22:15
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all our base encoding are now belong to UTF-8 – roblogic Aug 25 '15 at 01:49

score 8 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 22 '16 at 16:14

8

It could be useful to change the encoding just on the command line before the file is read:

rem On MicroSoft Windows
vim --cmd "set encoding=utf-8" file.ext
# In *nix shell
vim --cmd 'set encoding=utf-8' file.ext

See starting, --cmd.

answered Nov 22 '16 at 16:14

Hans Ginzel

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The first variation should also work on *nix shells. `'single quotes'` are only needed to escape all meta characters, which is usually not what you want. – jpaugh Feb 06 '17 at 15:36

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 04 '21 at 18:32

0

auto GUIEnter * set encoding=utf-8 should help

answered Dec 04 '21 at 18:32

How can I change a file's encoding with vim?

6 Answers6

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