Set the encoding to ANSI in PowerShell 2.0

Question

I want to set the encoding of a file to ANSI using the parameter -Encoding of the Set-Content cmdlet, I tried this one but it didn't work:

Set-Content -LiteralPath "$filePath" -Encoding Default

Solution 1

PowerShell v2 doesn't recognize an argument Default for the parameter -Encoding. Use the argument Ascii to save a file with ANSI encoding:

Set-Content -LiteralPath "$filePath" -Encoding Ascii

or omit the parameter entirely (Set-Content defaults to ANSI encoding):

Set-Content -LiteralPath "$filePath"

Solution 2

I use the .NET WriteAllText function for that:

[IO.File]::WriteAllText($filePath, (Get-Content $filePath))

Ensure the default encoding reflects your desired output using:

[System.Text.Encoding]::Default

Otherwise, add the enum with the desired encoding as the third parameter.

Comments

[Zakaria Belghiti]

It didn't work, it says that the parameter -raw couldn't be found, maybe it's not supported in PowerShell 2.0

[Martin Brandl]

ah okay, try to use the get-content without it

[Martin Brandl]

what encoding do you get?

[Zakaria Belghiti]

I've tried this one but when I open the output file I see that it's encoded in UCS-2 littleEndian

[Zakaria Belghiti]

UCS-2 littleEndian

[Ansgar Wiechers]

@ZakariaBelghiti That's clearly not possible. Please provide evidence.