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Outlook Classic Displays UTF-8 Formatting Codes as Visible Characters

Bhargavi Venkata Reddy 0 Reputation points
2026-05-12T05:56:10.9033333+00:00

Your Environment

Platform: PC desktop Host: Outlook Office version number: Outlook Classic (Desktop version - latest available) Operating System: Windows 10/11 Browser: N/A (Desktop application)

Expected behavior

Emails with modern UTF-8 character encoding and HTML formatting should display cleanly with:

Bullet points rendering as visible bullets (•) Bold text displaying as bold Hyperlinks displaying as clickable links No visible formatting metadata or code characters Content readable and professionally presented The email should display identically to how it appears in Outlook Web and New Outlook.

Current behavior

Outlook Classic displays hidden HTML/Unicode formatting metadata as visible special characters scattered throughout the email:

Characters appear as: ФОВ7, ФОВ, 2022 or similar Cyrillic-like characters These codes appear inline with the actual email content Makes the email difficult to read and unprofessional Same email displays correctly (clean formatting) in Outlook Web and New Outlook

Steps to reproduce

Send an email from a modern email client (Gmail, Outlook Web, or New Outlook) with:

UTF-8 character encoding Formatted content (bullets, bold text, hyperlinks) HTML-formatted message body

Receive the email in Outlook Classic (desktop version) Open and read the email in Outlook Classic Observe: Formatting metadata codes appear as visible text characters throughout the message

Original email shows: "• Bullet point text" Outlook Classic displays: "ФОВ7 Bullet point text"

Context

Root Cause Analysis: Outlook Classic appears to have limited Unicode/UTF-8 character encoding support. When receiving emails with modern character encoding standards, it fails to properly interpret formatting metadata and instead displays it as visible text.

Useful logs

Classic outlook Image New outlook

Image

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business

2 answers

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  1. Dora-T 13,910 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-05-12T07:17:04.8566667+00:00

    Hi Bhargavi Venkata Reddy

    Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A Forum and for providing the additional clarification regarding the bulletin point formatting behavior. 

    I performed testing on my side using Outlook Classic with emails sent from Outlook Web, including formatted bullet points, but I was not able to reproduce the issue. The bullet points displayed normally in my test environment. 

    Please note that this is a public peer-to-peer community forum. As moderators and community members, we can share general guidance and testing results, but we do not have access to internal diagnostic tools or the ability to perform an in-depth Root Cause Analysis (RCA). 

    In this case, I would recommend raising a support request through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center and sharing the affected email samples, screenshots, Outlook version details, and any other evidence that may help the support team investigate the behavior further. 

    For further instructions, you can follow this guide: Get support - Microsoft 365 admin | Microsoft Learn.  

    However, according to this article, root cause analysis is considered a support limitation. If the Microsoft 365 support team is unable to provide that level of investigation through a standard support request, you may consider evaluating Microsoft Unified Support (paid support ticket) for more in-depth investigation options.  

    Thank you for your understanding. 

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread. 

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  2. AI answer

    2026-05-12T05:56:28.6033333+00:00

    Classic Outlook has known issues with how it handles extended/Unicode characters and encodings, which can cause non‑ASCII symbols and formatting markers to appear as visible characters instead of rendering correctly. This aligns with the behavior described (e.g., bullets showing as “ФОВ7 …”) and explains why the same messages look fine in New Outlook and Outlook on the web.

    There are two relevant areas to address in Classic Outlook:

    1. Encoding for outgoing and incoming messages
    2. Known bugs in recent Classic Outlook builds that affect extended characters

    1. Adjust Classic Outlook encoding settings

    Classic Outlook can mis-handle extended characters when it automatically selects encodings or when it is not using UTF‑8. Changing these options can improve how UTF‑8/HTML content is interpreted.

    Use these workarounds in Classic Outlook:

    A. Turn off automatic encoding selection

    1. In Classic Outlook, select File > Options > Advanced.
    2. Under International Options, clear Automatically select encoding for outgoing messages.

    This prevents Outlook from forcing or mis-guessing encodings that can corrupt or expose formatting characters.

    B. Force UTF‑8 as preferred encoding

    1. In Classic Outlook, select File > Options > Advanced.
    2. Under International Options, note the current value of Preferred encoding for outgoing messages so it can be restored later if needed.
    3. Change Preferred encoding for outgoing messages to Unicode (UTF‑8).

    Although this setting is for outgoing mail, using UTF‑8 consistently reduces mismatches between what senders use and what Outlook expects, and is part of the recommended workaround for extended-character issues.

    2. Known issue with extended characters in Classic Outlook

    Classic Outlook has a documented issue where extended characters (such as ®, é, ü, ñ, £, umlauts, and other non‑ASCII symbols) can display incorrectly, often as question marks. This is tied to specific builds (for example, Version 2601 Build 19628.20150+), and is fixed in later builds.

    Key points:

    • The issue affects extended/Unicode characters in Classic Outlook.
    • It is fixed in newer builds (for example, Version 2601 19628.20252 and later, as well as subsequent versions 2602 and 2603).

    Action:

    • Ensure the Classic Outlook desktop client is updated to a build that includes the fix for extended characters. Use the Microsoft 365 Apps update history to confirm that the installed build is at or beyond the fixed versions listed in the documentation.

    If updating is not immediately possible, the recommended workarounds are:

    • Use Outlook on the web (OWA) or New Outlook to read messages that contain modern UTF‑8/HTML formatting, where they render correctly.
    • Use the encoding changes described above in Classic Outlook.

    3. If the problem persists

    If Classic Outlook is already on a fixed build and UTF‑8 is configured but the visible codes still appear, the practical options are:

    • Prefer New Outlook or Outlook on the web for viewing these specific messages.
    • Ask senders (where feasible) to send simpler HTML or plain-text versions for critical communications until the environment is fully aligned on updated builds and UTF‑8.

    References:

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