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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 Autodetect option.

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

If you're submitting an XML file that 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 1 Go to Products in Merchant Center, then select the Needs attention tab.

Step 2 Use the filter icon above the table to find all products affected by your issue.

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

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

Step 5 Select Save.

Fix multiple products at once

Step 1 Go to Products in Merchant Center, then select the Needs attention tab.

Step 2 Use the filter icon above the table to find all products affected by your issue.

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

Step 4 Cross 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 5 Reupload 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 it’s no longer listed on the “Needs attention” page.

Keep in mind: It may take some time for your change to be reflected on the “Needs attention” page.

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