What is the right CSV encoding for c# to open with Excel?

Question

I write a CSV with my C# CSVWriter based on a StreamWriter. In my data I have a lot of special characters like "Bávaro".

So when I use UTF-8 or ASCII to encode my CSV I can't get the "á" but I can open it in Excel afterwards perfectly. When I use Unicode my CSV has the correct char but in fact when I open this CSV in Excel it doesnt get automaticly sorted like my other CSV, all values are in the first column as string....

What is the right encoding here?

Excel can open CSV encoded in UTF-8 only with the correct encoding if the CSV file contains a BOM at its beginning. Unicode (UTF-16) encoded CSV will only be opened correctly if they are tabulator delimited and not comma (or semicolon) delimited. — Axel Richter
– Axel Richter, Commented May 22, 2015 at 6:55
Try to add preamble bytes to file, as I wrote here: stackoverflow.com/a/46076517/908936 — razon
– razon, Commented Sep 6, 2017 at 13:30

Paul Weiland · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-22 06:55:27Z

2

I recommend using Windows ANSI Codepage 1252 which you can get via:

Encoding.GetEncoding(1252)

It supports characters like "á" and works well from Excel 2003 to Excel 2013.

answered May 22, 2015 at 6:55

Paul Weiland

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Tony O'Hagan · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-22 06:55:37Z

1

Export your CSV using this encoding Encoding.GetEncoding("Windows-1252")

answered May 22, 2015 at 6:55

Tony O'Hagan

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