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I did the search, but only found ways to change the encoding for individual files. I want to start projects with the encoding already configured as UTF-8.

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    For each each project it is possible with [EditorConfig](https://editorconfig.org/) including `charset = utf-8`, see https://stackoverflow.com/a/51716830/371 – Dave Anderson Aug 06 '18 at 23:26

4 Answers4

26

I found two ways

Alternate

There is alternate way, please try it

Tools->Options->Environment->Documents

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The last

If that can't you can try to save it as UTF-8, you can save as with advanced options

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Community
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huoxudong125
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    This option has now been hidden under "Save As...", and then the arrow next to save! – Per Enström Feb 20 '18 at 08:38
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    The "Save documents as Unicode" doesn't trigger when all of the characters in the file are available in the user's code page. So a file with just a couple common symbols, like a copyright sign or common mathematics symbols, will likely no get converted. – Adrian McCarthy Dec 10 '22 at 16:07
26

Visual Studio supports EditorConfig files (https://editorconfig.org/)

Visual Studio (VS2017 and later) searches for a file named '.editorconfig' in the directory containing your source files, or anywhere above this directory in the hierarchy. This file can be used to direct the editor to use utf-8. I use the following:

[*]
end_of_line = lf
charset = utf-8
trim_trailing_whitespace = true
insert_final_newline = true
indent_style = space
indent_size = 4

The [*] line is a mask and means for all files - the scope of the commands can be reduced using e.g. [*.{h,cpp}]

There are further possibilities, particularly for C# files. Full details can be found at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/create-portable-custom-editor-options?view=vs-2019

AndyK
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  • Nice that it's built in to VS and doesn't need a plugin. It works great for controlling the encoding (charset). A couple of the other settings are a little buggy. – Adrian McCarthy Dec 10 '22 at 16:04
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It's possible to set the locale code page to 65001, and VS will save all files with utf-8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode_in_Microsoft_Windows#UTF-8

But since it's a beta function, there will be some bugs.

also reference https://superuser.com/questions/1033088/is-it-possible-to-set-locale-of-a-windows-application-to-utf-8/1451686

Fuyan Yuan
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-1

Tools->Options->Text Editor->General

Emiliano Cervantes
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    Even in Visual Studio 2019, there isn't an UTF8-default-encoding. The closest option is "Auto-detect UTF-8 encoding without signature", which isn't the same. – César Rodriguez Sep 04 '21 at 15:04