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Character encoding

The default character encoding is usually UTF-8. You may want to change character encoding in Terminal if you:

  • are working with file or directory names that use characters unavailable in your default encoding.

  • use an external hard disk that uses different encoding from your system.

  • connect to a remote computer that uses a different encoding.

Change the default character encoding

  1. Select Terminal ▸ Set Character Encoding.

  2. Select the desired character encoding.

Add more options to the character encoding menu

  1. Select Terminal ▸ Set Character Encoding ▸ Add or Remove….

  2. Browse from the available encodings.

  3. Select the encodings that you want to be added to the menu.

  4. Click Close to quit the dialog and return to Terminal.

Most modern operating systems now support and use UTF-8 character encoding by default.