# Mp3tag doesn't read UTF8 playlists correctly **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [August 6, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mp3tag-doesnt-read-utf8-playlists-correctly/19206 "2017-08-06T19:44:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jrsousa2](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@jrsousa2](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/jrsousa2)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 7:44pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mp3tag-doesnt-read-utf8-playlists-correctly/19206/1 "2017-08-06T19:44:54Z")
If I try to read a UTF8 playlist created in iTunes, many tracks will be missed, due to special characters in the file name. If I try to read the same exported playlist back into iTunes, at times it will miss some as well, such as file names containing % signs (dumb itunes). But Mp3tag misses way more. Is there a way to work around this without having to change the file names? Oh well, we know when it comes to computers and programs and their lack of (artificial) intelligence, there's always a countless number of flaws and unintelligent features, "MS excel que o diga". ---
**Author:** ![stevehero](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/stevehero/32/337_2.png) [@stevehero](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/stevehero)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mp3tag-doesnt-read-utf8-playlists-correctly/19206/2 "2017-08-06T22:27:09Z")
Non-ASCII characters are the issue. Export the M3U file from iTunes as normal but re-save it in sublime text. Menu: **File\>Save with encoding\>UFT-8 with BOM.** Then do whatever you intended to do. iTunes just isn't clever enough to ask the default encoding type. I tried in notepad++ but it truncated the playlist for some reason. Sublime Text is a far superior text editor anyway. [https://www.sublimetext.com/](https://www.sublimetext.com/) ---
**Author:** ![jrsousa2](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@jrsousa2](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/jrsousa2)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2017, 1:24am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mp3tag-doesnt-read-utf8-playlists-correctly/19206/3 "2017-08-07T01:24:42Z")
wow, didn't know that. thanks so much for the tip 😆 ---
**Author:** ![jrsousa2](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@jrsousa2](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/jrsousa2)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 11:30pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mp3tag-doesnt-read-utf8-playlists-correctly/19206/4 "2017-08-08T23:30:49Z")
> [@jrsousa2](#): > > wow, didn't know that. thanks so much for the tip 😆 I was trying this, but it's too much hassle, ideally the darn Mp3Tag should know how to read a UTF8 playlist, how come? ---
**Author:** ![jrsousa2](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@jrsousa2](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/jrsousa2)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mp3tag-doesnt-read-utf8-playlists-correctly/19206/5 "2017-08-08T23:45:08Z")
> [@stevehero](#): > > Non-ASCII characters are the issue. > > Export the M3U file from iTunes as normal but re-save it in sublime text. > > Menu: **File\>Save with encoding\>UFT-8 with BOM.** > Then do whatever you intended to do. iTunes just isn't clever enough to ask the default encoding type. > > I tried in notepad++ but it truncated the playlist for some reason. Sublime Text is a far superior text editor anyway. > > [https://www.sublimetext.com/](https://www.sublimetext.com/) This did the trick, thank you so much, it's not that big a hassle actually. ---
**Author:** ![stevehero](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/stevehero/32/337_2.png) [@stevehero](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/stevehero)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mp3tag-doesnt-read-utf8-playlists-correctly/19206/6 "2017-08-09T01:26:50Z")
> [@jrsousa2](#): > > This did the trick, thank you so much, it's not that big a hassle actually. It shouldn't be any hassle at all. ITunes has lost me to foobar2000 after 15 years due to the staleness of the software. You can't even map keyboard shortcuts to it and it's gotten slow as hell. I think the only major changes in those years where smart playlists and the ongoing ui tweaks. Anyway, glad to of helped. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/c/ce7035d426cb755a7916793326d23b465222a407.png) [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 12:26pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mp3tag-doesnt-read-utf8-playlists-correctly/19206/7 "2026-02-09T12:26:56Z")