Converting xml from UTF-16 to UTF-8 using PowerShell

David Gardiner picture David Gardiner · Apr 15, 2009 · Viewed 20.8k times · Source

What's the easiest way to convert XML from UTF16 to a UTF8 encoded file?

Answer

Ben Laan picture Ben Laan · Apr 15, 2009

This may not be the most optimal, but it works. Simply load the xml and push it back out to a file. the xml heading is lost though, so this has to be re-added.

$files = get-ChildItem "*.xml"
foreach ( $file in $files )
{
    [System.Xml.XmlDocument]$doc = new-object System.Xml.XmlDocument;
    $doc.set_PreserveWhiteSpace( $true );
    $doc.Load( $file );

    $root = $doc.get_DocumentElement();
    $xml = $root.get_outerXml();
    $xml = '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>' + $xml

    $newFile = $file.Name + ".new"
    Set-Content -Encoding UTF8 $newFile $xml;
}