How to fix: Invalid UTF-8 encoding

Use proper UTF-8 encoding for text and avoid double encoding

In this article


Why this issue is happening

Something is wrong with your encoding for text. Merchant Center supports UTF-8, UTF-16, Latin-1, and ASCII.

    How to fix the issue

    If you're unsure of your file's encoding, please select the Autodetectoption.

    If you're using Notepad to save your file, please select Save As, and then select ANSIor UTF-8in the Encodingoptions. If your file isn't encoded in either of these types, your feed won't be processed.

    If you're submitting an XML filethat uses either Latin-1 or UTF-16 encoding, please make sure you specify this information in your XML file. To do this, please change the first line of your data feed from <?xml version=" 1.0"?> to:

    • For Latin-1: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
    • For UTF-16: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16"?>

    Fix products one by one directly in Merchant Center

    Step 1Go to Productsin Merchant Center, then select the Needs attentiontab.

    Step 2Use the filtericonabove the table to find all products affected by your issue.

    Step 3Click on the title of the product you want to fix, then click Edit product.

    Step 4Make sure that the essential attributes for each item matches the UTF-8 encoding.

    Step 5Select Save.

    Fix multiple products at once

    Step 1Go to Productsin Merchant Center, then select the Needs attentiontab.

    Step 2Use the filtericonabove the table to find all products affected by your issue.

    Step 3Select the downloadiconto download a list (.csv) of all affected products for all issues or this particular issue.

    Step 4Cross reference the downloaded list with your uploaded product data, and make sure that the essential attributes for each item matches the UTF-8 encoding.

    Step 5Reupload your corrected product data to Merchant Center using your chosen upload method.


    Next steps

    After making the requested changes, check that you’ve fixed the issue by making sure the issue is no longer listed on the “ Needs attention ” page.

    Keep in mind: It may take 24-72 hours for your change to be reflected on the “ Needs attention ” page.

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