encoding error
Character set mismatch
An encoding error occurs when digital text is displayed using the wrong character set, producing garbled symbols, question marks, or strange characters where readable text should appear.
Common when files travel between systems that interpret bytes differently: The email arrived full of encoding errors—every apostrophe had become a black diamond.
Also called mojibake.
- garbledConfused and unintelligible
- corruptedMade impure or dishonest
- bit rotGradual corruption of stored data
- glitchMinor system fault
- scrambledMixed into disorder
charset · binary · data · transmission · broken pipe · packet · buffer · overflow · parse · syntax · malformed · invalid · bytes · ASCII · character set · UTF-8 · gibberish · noise