How Can I Fix Double-Encoded UTF8 Characters in My MySQL Database?

Fixing Double-Encoded UTF8 Characters

Incorrect character encoding can lead to data anomalies, such as the conversion of Spanish characters like "ñ" to "ñ." Double-encoding of UTF8 characters, which occurs when a CSV file is erroneously interpreted as Latin1-encoded and subsequently encoded again in UTF8, is a common cause of this issue.

To resolve this issue and restore the intended character representation, MySQL provides a specialized function:

CONVERT(CAST(CONVERT(field USING latin1) AS BINARY) USING utf8)

This function takes the double-encoded string, first converts it back to a Latin1 binary string using CONVERT(field USING latin1), and then re-encodes it correctly to UTF8 using CONVERT(CAST(...) AS BINARY) USING utf8).

To apply the correction to your data, use the following update statement:

UPDATE tablename SET
    field = CONVERT(CAST(CONVERT(field USING latin1) AS BINARY) USING utf8);

This statement will update the specified field in the tablename table, replacing the double-encoded characters with their correct UTF8 equivalents. By properly handling character encoding, you can ensure the integrity and accuracy of your data.

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