Skip to main content
Select language
Skip to search

Encoding API

This is an experimental technology
Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The Encoding API provides a mechanism for handling text in various character encodings, including legacy non-UTF-8 encodings.

The API provides four interfaces: TextDecoder, TextEncoder, TextDecoderStream and TextEncoderStream.

Interfaces

Tutorials & tools

A shim allowing to use this interface in browsers that don't support it.
StringView – a C-like representation of strings based on typed arrays.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
Encoding	Living Standard	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

`TextDecoder`

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`TextDecoder`	Chrome Full support 38	Edge ?	Firefox Full support 19 Full support 19 Partial support 18 Notes Notes Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 25	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support 38	Chrome Android Full support 38	Firefox Android Full support 19 Full support 19 Partial support 18 Notes Notes Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`TextDecoder()` constructor	Chrome Full support 38	Edge ?	Firefox Full support 19 Full support 19 Partial support 18 Notes Notes Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 25	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support 38	Chrome Android Full support 38	Firefox Android Full support 19 Full support 19 Partial support 18 Notes Notes Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.	Opera Android ?	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android ?
`decode`	Chrome Full support 38	Edge ?	Firefox Full support 19 Full support 19 Partial support 18 Notes Notes Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 25	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support 38	Chrome Android Full support 38	Firefox Android Full support 19 Full support 19 Partial support 18 Notes Notes Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`encoding`	Chrome Full support 38	Edge ?	Firefox Full support 19 Full support 19 Partial support 18 Notes Notes Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 25	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support 38	Chrome Android Full support 38	Firefox Android Full support 19 Full support 19 Partial support 18 Notes Notes Implemented a slightly different version of the spec.	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`fatal`	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge ?	Firefox Full support Yes	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`ignoreBOM`	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge ?	Firefox Full support Yes	IE No support No	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
Available in workers	Chrome Full support 38	Edge ?	Firefox Full support 20	IE No support No	Opera Full support 25	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support 38	Chrome Android Full support 38	Firefox Android Full support 20	Opera Android ?	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android ?

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
Compatibility unknown: Compatibility unknown
See implementation notes.: See implementation notes.

`TextEncoder`

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`TextEncoder` Experimental	Chrome Full support 38	Edge ?	Firefox Full support 19 Full support 19 Full support 18 Notes Notes Firefox 18 implemented an earlier and slightly different version of the specification.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 25	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support 38	Chrome Android Full support 38	Firefox Android Full support 19 Full support 19 Full support 18 Notes Notes Firefox 18 implemented an earlier and slightly different version of the specification.	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`TextEncoder()` constructor Experimental	Chrome Full support 53 Notes Full support 53 Notes Notes Does not accept parameters. Supports only `utf-8` encoding. No support 38 — 53 Notes Notes Throws `RangeError` exception for unknown encoding types.	Edge ?	Firefox Full support 48 Notes Full support 48 Notes Notes The constructor accepts an encoding type label argument, but the value is ignored. Only `utf-8` encoding is supported. No support 38 — 48 Notes Notes If the encoding type label argument is invalid, then a `RangeError` exception is thrown. No support 19 — 38 Notes Notes If the encoding type label argument is invalid, then a `TypeError` exception is thrown. Full support 18 Notes Notes Firefox 18 implemented an earlier and slightly different version of the specification.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 25	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support 38	Chrome Android Full support 38	Firefox Android Full support 48 Notes Full support 48 Notes Notes The constructor accepts an encoding type label argument, but the value is ignored. Only `utf-8` encoding is supported. No support 38 — 48 Notes Notes If the encoding type label argument is invalid, then a `RangeError` exception is thrown. No support 19 — 38 Notes Notes If the encoding type label argument is invalid, then a `TypeError` exception is thrown. Full support 18 Notes Notes Firefox 18 implemented an earlier and slightly different version of the specification.	Opera Android ?	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android ?
`encode` Experimental	Chrome Full support 38	Edge ?	Firefox Full support 19 Full support 19 Full support 18 Notes Notes Firefox 18 implemented an earlier and slightly different version of the specification.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 25	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support 38	Chrome Android Full support 38	Firefox Android Full support 19 Full support 19 Full support 18 Notes Notes Firefox 18 implemented an earlier and slightly different version of the specification.	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
`encodeInto` Experimental	Chrome Full support 74	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 66	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android Full support 74	Chrome Android Full support 74	Firefox Android Full support 66	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
`encoding` Experimental	Chrome Full support 38	Edge ?	Firefox Full support 19 Full support 19 Full support 18 Notes Notes Firefox 18 implemented an earlier and slightly different version of the specification.	IE No support No	Opera Full support 25	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support 38	Chrome Android Full support 38	Firefox Android Full support 19 Full support 19 Full support 18 Notes Notes Firefox 18 implemented an earlier and slightly different version of the specification.	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes
Available in Web Workers Experimental	Chrome Full support 38	Edge ?	Firefox Full support 20	IE No support No	Opera Full support 25	Safari Full support 10.1	WebView Android Full support 38	Chrome Android Full support 38	Firefox Android Full support 20	Opera Android ?	Safari iOS Full support 10.1	Samsung Internet Android ?

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support
Compatibility unknown: Compatibility unknown
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.: Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
See implementation notes.: See implementation notes.

Last modified: Mar 18, 2019, by MDN contributors