Windows Terminal Setup for Unicode Display

If you’re experiencing issues with the ASCII art or emojis not displaying correctly in PowerShell or Windows CMD, here are solutions:

The Fix (Automatic)

Bodge now automatically sets UTF-8 encoding when it starts. The latest version should work out of the box!

If You Still Have Issues

The new Windows Terminal has excellent Unicode support:

  1. Install from Microsoft Store: Windows Terminal
  2. Open Windows Terminal and run Bodge - everything should work perfectly!

Option 2: Configure PowerShell

Add this to your PowerShell profile to always use UTF-8:

# Find your profile location
$PROFILE

# Edit the profile (create if it doesn't exist)
notepad $PROFILE

# Add this line to the file:
[Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8

Option 3: Set CMD Code Page

For Command Prompt, run this before using Bodge:

chcp 65001

To make it permanent, add it to a batch file that you run before using Bodge.

Option 4: Use a Better Font

Some fonts don’t support all Unicode characters. Try these fonts:

To change font in CMD:

  1. Right-click the title bar
  2. Select “Properties”
  3. Go to “Font” tab
  4. Choose a Unicode-compatible font

Testing Unicode Support

Run this command to test if Unicode is working:

bodge version

You should see:

What Bodge Does Automatically

On startup, Bodge automatically:

  1. Sets Windows console output to UTF-8 (code page 65001)
  2. Enables ANSI color support for Windows 10+
  3. Detects if output is a terminal (TTY)
  4. Disables colors if output is redirected to a file

Fallback Mode

If you’re using a very old terminal or redirecting output, Bodge will:

Common Issues

Issue: Question marks or boxes instead of emojis

Solution: Use a font that supports emojis (like Cascadia Code or Segoe UI Emoji)

Issue: Colors don’t work

Solution: Make sure you’re on Windows 10 or later. Windows 7/8 has limited color support.

Issue: Box drawing characters are broken

Solution:

  1. Try chcp 65001 before running Bodge
  2. Ensure your terminal font supports Unicode
  3. Use Windows Terminal instead of legacy CMD

Issue: Everything looks weird in PowerShell ISE

Solution: PowerShell ISE doesn’t support ANSI colors well. Use regular PowerShell or Windows Terminal instead.

Environment Detection

Bodge automatically detects your environment:

Advanced: Permanent UTF-8 Setup

For PowerShell (All Users)

Create/edit: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\profile.ps1

[Console]::OutputEncoding = [System.Text.Encoding]::UTF8
$PSDefaultParameterValues['Out-File:Encoding'] = 'utf8'

For CMD (Registry Method)

  1. Open Registry Editor (regedit)
  2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Command Processor
  3. Create new String Value: Autorun
  4. Set value to: chcp 65001 >nul

Warning: This affects all CMD instances. Test first!

Still Not Working?

If you’re still having issues:

  1. Check your Windows version: Run winver to see your version
  2. Update Windows: Some fixes require Windows 10 build 1903 or later
  3. Try a different terminal: Windows Terminal is the best option
  4. Check antivirus: Some security software interferes with console settings
  5. Run as Administrator: Some console settings require admin rights

Report Issues

If none of these solutions work, please report an issue with:

The visual enhancements should work on any modern Windows system! 🎨