Characters aren't displayed correctly
TextEdit uses a specific text encoding to display plain text documents based on their contents. If characters do not appear correctly, try choosing a different text encoding when you open the file.
To choose a different text encoding:
- In TextEdit, choose File > Open.
- Choose an encoding type from the Plain Text Encoding pop-up menu.
- Select the file, and click Open.
To set the encoding TextEdit uses when you open all plain text documents, choose TextEdit > Preferences, and click "Open and Save." Choose the encoding you want from the "Opening files" pop-up menu.
If you don't see the encoding you want to use, choose Customize Encodings List from the pop-up menu and select the encoding you want to include.