I have a problem displaying special characters in a feedback export

When exporting feedbacks from your campaign, are special characters (accents, emojis, Asian, Greek, or Arabic characters) replaced by random characters or question marks in your file ?

In this article, we explain why Microsoft Excel does not handle these special characters by default and how to resolve this issue.

How it works

Skeepers Feedback Management allows you to export campaign feedbacks in two ways : 

Export via the 'Feedbacks' section of a campaign Export via raw data visualization

Default format
  • CSV export with ISO encoding
  • XLS export
  • CSV export with ISO encoding
Possible changes
The encoding for feedback exports from the campaign cannot be modified.

The encoding for feedback exports can be modified by opening or editing the raw data visualization query.

Available formats include : 

  • XLS export
  • CSV export with ISO encoding
  • CSV export with UTF-8 encoding

When viewed in Microsoft Excel, an XLS file properly displays all special characters.

However, a CSV file may present several display issues, especially for special and international characters (Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Greek, Russian, Arabic), which may appear unreadable. This is often due to encoding : the CSV format with ISO or UTF-8 encoding may sometimes transform special characters into question marks or random characters in Microsoft Excel:

To avoid this issue, several solutions are available depending on your needs : 

Although it may seem more complex, we recommend choosing Solution 2 if you have to manipulate your data and you need to use the CSV format, especially for feedback imports or exports.

1. Change the export format of raw data visualization to XLS and open it in Microsoft Excel

Start by opening the configuration of your raw data visualization and change the export format from CSV with ISO encoding to XLS :

Next, export your data via the raw data visualization or through a dashboard.

Once downloaded, open the XLS export file in Microsoft Excel.

Special characters should display correctly :

2. Change the export format of raw data visualization to CSV UTF-8 and transform it in Microsoft Excel

Start by opening your raw data visualization configuration and change the export format from CSV with ISO encoding to CSV with UTF-8 encoding :

Next, export your data via the raw data visualization or through a dashboard.

Once downloaded, open the CSV UTF-8 export file in Microsoft Excel. In the "Data" tab, click on the "Get Data" button, select "From File", then "From Text/CSV".

Next, choose the CSV UTF-8 export file you previously downloaded.

If not already set, in the "File Origin" dropdown list, choose "65001: Unicode (UTF-8)".

Click the "Transform Data" button, and the special characters will be displayed.

In the top-left corner, click on the "File" tab, then "Close and Load".

Finally, click on "File", then "Save As". Name the transformed file and make sure to change the format to "CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv)". Then press the "Save" button.

The newly created file will display your special characters correctly :

3. Change the export format of raw data visualization to CSV UTF-8 and open it in Google Sheets

Start by opening your raw data visualization configuration and change the export format from CSV with ISO encoding to CSV with UTF-8 encoding :

Next, export your data via the raw data visualization or through a dashboard.

Once downloaded, go to Google Sheets and create a new blank sheet.

Open the "File" tab and click on "Open".

Choose the previously downloaded file to upload.


The imported file will display your special characters correctly :

4. Change the export format of raw data visualization to CSV UTF-8 and open it in Notepad++

Start by opening your raw data visualization configuration and change the export format from CSV with ISO encoding to CSV with UTF-8 encoding :

Next, export your data via the raw data visualization or through a dashboard.

Once downloaded, open Notepad++.

Open the "File" tab and click on "Open...".

Choose the previously downloaded file.

The opened file will display your special characters correctly :

 

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our Customer Care team.

 

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