# Changing text encodings

Text encodings determine which text characters the editor displays for the file's data.

For example, in the ASCII text encoding, a byte containing the number 65 represents a capital A. In a different text encoding, it could represent a completely different, possibly non-English character.

When dealing with text files across national boundaries, it becomes very important to make sure you are using the correct text encoding.

To change the text encoding:

- Choose the appropriate syntax mode from the Text > Encoding sub-menu, or
- Choose from the Text Encoding sub-menu in the editor's action button

By default, only a subset of all the available encodings are shown in this menu. To add or remove encodings from the menu:

- Choose Text > Encoding > Customize Encodings List...

When you change text encodings, you will be given the option to convert the file to the new encoding or reinterpret the file using the new encoding.

- Convert means that Coda will try to preserve the current text characters used in the file while switching the new encoding. In other words, if you use a dollar sign character in the first encoding, it will attempt to convert that to the dollar sign character in the second encoding. Note that sometimes conversion is not possible. For example, it is not possible to represent Japanese katakana characters in ASCII encoding. In this case, you will get a warning that non-convertible characters will be lost or converted to question marks.
- Reinterpret means that the actual content data bytes of the current file will be unchanged. This may cause characters in the document to change to other characters, per the new encoding. A Japanese kanji character could, for example, get changed into three accented European characters.

Text encoding also comes into play when you paste text into Coda from another source. If the incoming text cannot be represented in the current encoding, you may be asked if you wish to change the file's encoding to accommodate it.

If you are working with an HTML document, Coda will inspect the document to see if it can automatically determine the text encoding from a `<meta>` tag.