Is there way to check charset encoding of .txt file with Java?

Question

Is there way to check is text file (.txt) encoded with Unicode or UTF-8 with Java?

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 13 '12 at 20:15

You cannot know with absolute certainty which charset is used in the general case. I found this to be a good read.

Especially the section Automatic detection of encoding.

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:06

2

Uhm, theoretically, how would you know if it is unicode?

This is the real question. Truthfully, you cannot know, but you can make a decent guess.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:06

Community

answered Jun 13 '12 at 20:11

Haakon Løtveit

2 Answers2