UnicodeDecodeError: ‘charmap’ codec can’t decode byte

BySimshaan /


UnicodeDecodeError: 'charmap' codec can't decode byte

This error occurs when you try to decode a byte string that contains characters that cannot be decoded by the given encoding. It is usually caused by a mismatch between the encoding used to encode the string and the encoding used to decode it.

To fix this error, make sure to use the same encoding for both encoding and decoding the string. You can also use the “codecs” module to encode and decode strings.

What Causes This Error?

This error is caused by a mismatch between the encoding used to encode the string and the encoding used to decode it.

For example, if you are trying to decode a string encoded in UTF-8 using the ASCII encoding, this error will occur.

Examples of This Error

Here are some examples of this error:


UnicodeDecodeError: 'ascii' codec can't decode byte 0xed in position 0: ordinal not in range(128)

This error occurs when you try to decode a byte string encoded in UTF-8 using the ASCII encoding.


UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0x80 in position 0: invalid start byte

This error occurs when you try to decode a byte string encoded in ASCII using the UTF-8 encoding.

How to Fix This Error

To fix this error, make sure to use the same encoding for both encoding and decoding the string.

You can also use the “codecs” module to encode and decode strings.

For example, if you are trying to decode a string encoded in UTF-8 using the ASCII encoding, you can use the following code:

import codecs
encodedstring = b'\xed\xa0\xbd\xed\xb8\x80'
decodedstring = codecs.decode(encodedstring, 'utf-8')
print(decodedstring)

Q&A

What is Encoding?

Encoding is the process of transforming a sequence of characters into a sequence of bytes. It is used to store and transmit data in a format that can be understood by computers. Different encodings can be used to represent the same characters in different ways.

What is Decoding?

Decoding is the process of transforming a sequence of bytes into a sequence of characters. It is used to interpret data that has been encoded using a specific encoding.

What is the Difference Between Encoding and Decoding?

The difference between encoding and decoding is that encoding is the process of transforming a sequence of characters into a sequence of bytes, while decoding is the process of transforming a sequence of bytes into a sequence of characters.