Cyrillic To Unicode
Instantly convert Cyrillic text to Unicode (\\uXXXX and U+XXXX formats)
Tool powered by iloveunicode.com
Convert Legacy Cyrillic to Unicode Instantly
Opening older Russian text files often results in “Mojibake”—unreadable strings like “Ïðèâåò” or “При”. This tool acts as a bridge, re-encoding your text from legacy formats like Windows-1251 (CP1251) or KOI8-R into standard Unicode (UTF-8) compatible with modern web browsers and smartphones.
How to Convert Text
- Paste Your Data: Copy the garbled Cyrillic text from your old email, website, or database dump and paste it into the left input box.
- Select Encoding: If the auto-detect fails, try selecting **Windows-1251** (most common for Windows) or **KOI8-R** (common for old Unix/Email).
- Copy & Export: Click the “Convert” button. Your text is now readable Russian/Cyrillic ready for the modern web.
Why Direct Copy-Paste Fails
Before Unicode, Cyrillic text relied on 8-bit encodings like **Windows-1251**. In this system, the byte `0xFF` represents the letter “я”. However, in the Western European encoding (Windows-1252), `0xFF` represents “ÿ”. When you open a legacy Russian file on a modern system without specifying the encoding, the computer defaults to the Western standard, turning your text into gibberish. This tool remaps those specific byte values to their correct **Unicode Code Points**.
Legacy Encodings vs. Unicode
| Comparison | Windows-1251 (Legacy) | Unicode (UTF-8) |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Cyrillic Only | Universal (All Languages) |
| Byte Size | 1 Byte (Fixed) | 2 Bytes per Cyrillic char |
| Web Support | Obsolete (Requires Meta Tag) | Standard (HTML5 Default) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is KOI8-R?
**KOI8-R** is an older Russian encoding standard used primarily on the early Russian Internet (Runet) and Unix systems. If your text looks completely random and Windows-1251 doesn’t work, try converting from KOI8-R.
Q. Does this support Ukrainian or Bulgarian?
Yes. **Windows-1251** and **UTF-8** both support the full Cyrillic script, including characters used in Ukrainian (і, ї, є) and Bulgarian.