Why doesn’t Data Loader import special characters?

To ensure that the file is properly encoded:

1. Modify your source data file in .xls format.
2. In Microsoft® Excel®, save a copy of your file as a Unicode Text file.
3. Open the Unicode Text file you saved with a text editor.
4. To change these file settings, click File | Save As:
   • File name extension—.csv
   • Save as type—All Files
   • Encoding—UTF-8
5. Click Save, and close the file.
   

   Note Don’t open the file after you have saved the settings or you can revert the encoding changes.
6. Import the data using Data Loader as you normally do, and select the newly created .csv file.