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How to Fix Gibberish Chinese File Names in VBA and Access
Question details
Users experience corrupted or gibberish Chinese characters in file names exported via Access VBA on a new Windows computer, despite having language packs and non-Unicode settings properly configured.
- Product
- Microsoft Access / VBA
- Device & OS
- Windows
- Scenario
- Exporting files with Chinese names using VBA macros in Microsoft Access.
- Observed behavior
- Chinese characters in file names and within the VBA environment display as unreadable gibberish instead of the correct characters.
Ensure that the Chinese language pack is installed on your Windows system and that the system locale for non-Unicode programs is already set to Chinese.
Change the VBA Editor Display Font
Modify the font settings within the VBA editor to a font that fully supports Chinese characters, such as DengXian, to resolve the character corruption.
Even when system language settings are correct, the default font in the VBA editor may lack the necessary glyphs to display Chinese characters properly, resulting in gibberish text.
Launch Microsoft Access, open your database, and press ALT + F11 to open the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) editor.
In the VBA editor, click on 'Tools' in the top menu bar, and select 'Options' from the dropdown menu.
Navigate to the 'Editor Format' tab. Under the 'Font' list, scroll down and select 'DengXian' or another standard Chinese-supported font.
Click 'OK' to save the changes. Check your VBA code and exported file names to verify that the Chinese characters now display correctly without gibberish.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why do Chinese characters turn into gibberish in VBA?
This occurs when the default font used by the VBA editor does not support the specific character set, or when the system locale for non-Unicode programs is not configured for that language.
Do I need to change my Windows system locale to fix this?
If you have already set the system locale for non-Unicode programs to Chinese and the issue persists, simply changing the VBA editor font to a supported one like DengXian is usually sufficient.
Will changing the VBA editor font affect my macro's functionality?
No, changing the font in the 'Editor Format' settings only affects how the text is visually displayed to the developer. It does not alter the logic or execution of your VBA macros.
