Set the encoding to ANSI in PowerShell 2.0

Question

I want to set the encoding of a file to ANSI using the parameter -Encoding of the Set-Content cmdlet, I tried this one but it didn't work:

Set-Content -LiteralPath "$filePath" -Encoding Default

score 10 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 08 '16 at 11:37

10

PowerShell v2 doesn't recognize an argument Default for the parameter -Encoding. Use the argument Ascii to save a file with ANSI encoding:

Set-Content -LiteralPath "$filePath" -Encoding Ascii

or omit the parameter entirely (Set-Content defaults to ANSI encoding):

Set-Content -LiteralPath "$filePath"

answered Jun 08 '16 at 11:37

Ansgar Wiechers

I've tried this one but when I open the output file I see that it's encoded in UCS-2 littleEndian – Zakaria Belghiti Jun 08 '16 at 11:40
1

@ZakariaBelghiti That's clearly not possible. Please provide evidence. – Ansgar Wiechers Jun 08 '16 at 11:50
Not sure if there is a way around but I get the following message: `Set-Content : Cannot process command because of one or more missing mandatory parameters: Value.` I only want to change encoding not the content. Is there a different command. – Matt Fricker Jan 27 '23 at 14:27

Martin Brandl · Answer 2 · 2016-06-08T11:21:54.883

1

I use the .NET WriteAllText function for that:

[IO.File]::WriteAllText($filePath, (Get-Content $filePath))

Ensure the default encoding reflects your desired output using:

[System.Text.Encoding]::Default

Otherwise, add the enum with the desired encoding as the third parameter.

edited Jun 08 '16 at 11:21

answered Jun 08 '16 at 11:02

Martin Brandl

It didn't work, it says that the parameter -raw couldn't be found, maybe it's not supported in PowerShell 2.0 – Zakaria Belghiti Jun 08 '16 at 11:14
ah okay, try to use the get-content without it – Martin Brandl Jun 08 '16 at 11:15
what encoding do you get? – Martin Brandl Jun 08 '16 at 11:33
UCS-2 littleEndian – Zakaria Belghiti Jun 08 '16 at 11:42

2 Answers2