DIAGNOSE → FIX

CSV Special Characters Broken

The file was decoded with the wrong text encoding.

LIKELY CAUSE

Why it happens

Identify UTF-8 vs legacy encodings and reopen with the correct decoder.

SAFE FIX

What to do

Prefer UTF-8 with a known export setting.

Debug in this order

  1. Reproduce the problem on the smallest sample that still fails.
  2. Inspect the exact keys, types, ranges or markup involved instead of only the displayed value.
  3. Fix the root cause, then rerun the original case and one known-good case.
  4. Document the rule if the same problem can return in recurring work.
WORKTOOLS RULE

Do not hide an unexplained data error with a cosmetic workaround. Make the input and matching logic predictable first.