Change OutputEncoding and code page

I was having some trouble getting Unicode output with PowerShell, which I partially solved using this:

[Console]::OutputEncoding = [Text.Encoding]::UTF8

However I noticed that this setting has an issue. If I run a command like this:

Get-Content a.txt

It does not output in UTF8. It seems this is the reason:

Default Uses the encoding that corresponds to the system's active code page (usually ANSI).

So if [Console]::OutputEncoding doesnt change the Code Page, then what does?

2 Answers

If [Console]::OutputEncoding doesn't change the Code Page, then what does?

According to Set the default encoding to UTF-8 in powershell you should be using:

[Console]::OutputEncoding = [Text.UTF8Encoding]::UTF8

Which is slightly different from the command you are using.

Another way is to use chcp.com:

& "$env:windir\system32\chcp.com" 65001

---

After testing it seems like powershell likes to work with BOM encoded UTF8 files.

If your files are not BOM encoded you can use -encoding utf8.

Example with a non BOM encoded UTF8 file:

> get-content test.txt
Greek (in Polytonic): The Greek anthem: Σὲ γνωÏίζω ἀπὸ τὴν κόψη τοῦ σπαθιοῦ τὴν Ï„ÏομεÏá½µ, σὲ γνωÏίζω ἀπὸ τὴν ὄψη ποὺ μὲ βία μετÏάει Ï„á½´ γῆ. ᾿Απ᾿ Ï„á½° κόκκαλα βγαλμένη τῶν ῾Ελλήνων Ï„á½° ἱεÏá½± καὶ σὰν Ï€Ïῶτα ἀνδÏειωμένη χαῖÏε, ὦ χαῖÏε, ᾿ΕλευθεÏιά!
> get-content test.txt -encoding utf8
Greek (in Polytonic): The Greek anthem: Σὲ γνωρίζω ἀπὸ τὴν κόψη τοῦ σπαθιοῦ τὴν τρομερή, σὲ γνωρίζω ἀπὸ τὴν ὄψη ποὺ μὲ βία μετράει τὴ γῆ. ᾿Απ᾿ τὰ κόκκαλα βγαλμένη τῶν ῾Ελλήνων τὰ ἱερά καὶ σὰν πρῶτα ἀνδρειωμένη χαῖρε, ὦ χαῖρε, ᾿Ελευθεριά!
>

2

Browse to this key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\CodePage

and change OEMCP to 65001. Then restart. With this fix, if you are using Consolas font, it seems to lock PowerShell into a small font size. cmd.exestill works fine. As a workaround, you can use Lucida Console, or I switched to Cascadia Mono:

3

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