Encoding Detector - Free Online Tool | PivaBox

Detect character encoding of text/files — BOM detection, UTF-8 validation, byte analysis, convert to UTF-8/ASCII/Base64/Hex, and mojibake fixer

How to Use Encoding Detector

1. Paste text into the input field or upload a file — the tool will automatically analyze the bytes and detect the character encoding
2. Review the Detected Encoding result with confidence score. Expand the analysis details to see how the detection was made — BOM check, UTF-8 validation, byte pattern analysis
3. Switch to Convert tab to transform text to UTF-8, ASCII, Base64, or Hex. Use the Mojibake Fixer tab to recover garbled text by trying different encoding recovery scenarios.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Encoding Detector free?

Yes, PivaBox Encoding Detector is completely free to use. There are no charges, subscriptions, or hidden fees. All detection and conversion runs locally in your browser.

Are my files uploaded to a server?

No. All encoding detection, byte analysis, and text conversion happens entirely in your browser using the TextEncoder/TextDecoder API. Your text and files never leave your device.

What encodings can be detected?

The tool detects UTF-8 (with BOM detection), UTF-16 (LE/BE), ASCII, GBK/GB2312, Shift-JIS, Latin-1 (ISO-8859-1), and Windows-1252. It also provides byte-level hex dump analysis for manual inspection. The mojibake fixer can recover text that was incorrectly decoded, such as UTF-8 bytes interpreted as Latin-1 or GBK text decoded as UTF-8.