Funky Font or Characters

Question

See snippet below, for whatever reason, randomly some of the cells on my forms, the text will get these funky characters. It is random whereas I've been working and using this database over the last couple of weeks and everything is fine but today, two or three cells have this issue. This will happen from time-to-time and it will go away and then I am good for a while.

Interesting when I highlighted those characters in the form and then copy/paste them into this message, the correct text appears. The correct text should be: ASTM A108, ASTM A29.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Hi,

If the record source of the form is a query, have you checked whether the characters already appear in the query or only in the form?

What is the control source of the text box? Is e.g. a calculated column or a form reference in a query involved?

I'm asking because there are a few known circumstances where Access shows random/strange characters in queries. They are just display errors not data problems.

Servus
Karl

---

Access Forever, News, DevCon
Access-Entwickler-Konferenz AEK

Answer 2

Dear @Patrick Snyder,

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A forum.

I understand you're encountering an unexpected issue with Access. Based on my research, this seems to be a classic display glitch in Microsoft Access forms, where the text renders incorrectly (often appearing as mojibake or "funky" substituted characters like DEEE, DAAE, etc.), but the underlying data remains intact and correct, as evidenced by the fact that copying and pasting the text elsewhere (such as into your message) reveals the real content.

Please try these steps to see if they help:

1. Close and reopen Access (or just the form/database). This often forces a reload of fonts and clears the display glitch.
2. Switch views on the form:
   Go to View, then switch to Design View and back to Datasheet View. This can often refresh the rendering.
3. Select the text in the control, then click outside or tab away and back. Sometimes simply interacting with the control triggers a redraw.
4. Change the font temporarily on the affected textbox/combo: In Datasheet View, select the control. Set the Font to something standard like Calibri or Arial (size 10 or 11). Save the form. This can help bypass any font glitches.
5. Compact and Repair the database: Go to File > Info > Compact & Repair Database. This can fix minor internal inconsistencies that may cause display issues.
6. Refresh or requery the form: If it's a bound form, try adding a button with code like Me.Requery or Me.Refresh to force a redraw. Alternatively, you can close and reopen the form.

Also ensure your version of Access is fully updated. Some display/font issues are patched quietly in updates, so it's worth checking that you're on the latest version.

I hope this information is helpful. Please follow these steps and let me know if it works for you. If not, we can work together to resolve this. Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments so I can continue to support you. I'm looking forward to your reply.

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it.

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. 

Answer 3

The characters shown are the result of text being rendered with the wrong encoding or with missing/incorrect fonts, so the stored text is actually correct but the glyphs that Access (or Windows) chooses to display are wrong. This is why copying the text out of the control shows the expected string “ASTM A108, ASTM A29” even though the form displays “ÐÈÉÊÃÐA,ÃBÐÈÉÊÃAC”.

In similar cases, square boxes or unexpected symbols appear when an app cannot render certain characters with the fonts or encoding it is using. On Windows 10 this typically happens when:

• The app or control is not using proper font fallback and the needed glyphs are not available in the current font.
• The text is interpreted with the wrong encoding or locale settings, so bytes are mapped to the wrong characters.

To mitigate in Access on Windows:

1. Ensure the form controls use a standard, fully supported font (for example, a common Windows 10 UI font) and not a specialty or custom font that might be missing or partially installed.
2. Avoid copying data into the table or form from sources that may use different encodings or special characters unless pasted as plain text.
3. If the issue appears only intermittently, close and reopen Access so the form reloads fonts and layout; if it persists, recreate the affected control and rebind it to the same field so any corrupted control-level formatting is removed.
4. If this is seen across multiple apps, review Windows language/locale and font settings, and install any missing optional font packs required for the languages in use.

These steps address the underlying display/encoding problem without changing the actual stored data, which is already correct.

---

References:

• Why does some text display with square boxes in some apps on Windows 10?
• The Unicode standard