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How to Fix Korean Text Encoding Issues in Excel CSV Files: UTF-8/ANSI, Importing, Delimiters, and Notepad Conversion

It is common to open a report and see corrupted Korean characters (��, ???), or to save a CSV file only to find that Korean text is corrupted on someone else’s PC. This article covers the causes of corrupted Korean text in Excel CSV files, choosing UTF-8/ANSI (cp949), importing from Text/CSV (Power Query), Notepad conversion, and delimiter (, vs. 😉 issues in practical steps.

Quick Fix (3 Steps)

Go to Data → From Text/CSV, select the encoding (UTF-8/949) and delimiter, then load the file.
Go to File → Save As → CSV UTF-8.
Open the file in Notepad and save it again as UTF-8.

Why Does Korean Text Become Corrupted?

A CSV is a text file that uses delimiters. Characters become corrupted when the encoding used to save the file differs from the encoding used to read it. In Korea, UTF-8 (65001) and cp949 (EUC-KR) are commonly used.

Import from Text/CSV (Power Query)

Go to Data → From Text/CSV and select the file.
Set File Origin (encoding) to UTF-8 or Korean (949).
Match the delimiter to the actual file (, or ;).
Specify column data types (Text/Number/Date), then select Load or Transform.

This method saves the encoding, delimiter, and column formatting in a query so you can reuse them.

Save as CSV — UTF-8 Recommended

Use File → Save As → CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited). If a legacy system accepts only cp949, provide a separately converted version.

Convert Encoding with Notepad or VS Code

Notepad: Open the file → Save As → select UTF-8 encoding.
VS Code: Select the encoding in the status bar → Save with Encoding.

Delimiter (, vs. 😉 Issues

When importing, set the delimiter to match the file. If needed, use Data → Text to Columns to split the data again.

Prevent Loss of Large Numbers, ZIP Codes, and Dates

Load ZIP codes and IDs as Text.
Import dates as text first, then convert them using rules in Power Query.

Practice Sample

Customer Name,City,ZIP Code,Notes
“Hong Gil-dong”,Seoul,01234,“New, VIP”
“Kim Hangeul”,Busan,04567,“Quotation mark/comma test”

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	Solution
Korean text appears as ��/???	Encoding mismatch	Reimport through Text/CSV using UTF-8 or 949
All data appears in one column	Delimiter mismatch	Specify the delimiter (, / 😉 or use Text to Columns
Leading zero disappears from ZIP codes	Automatic number conversion	Load the column as Text
Text is corrupted on the recipient’s computer	Different system environments	Recommend CSV UTF-8; provide a cp949 version if needed

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How to Fix Korean Text Encoding Issues in Excel CSV Files: UTF-8/ANSI, Importing, Power Query, Notepad Conversion, and Delimiters