Use UTF-8 string encoding to encode your text as Unicode characters, allowing you to create user interfaces that support displaying text in multiple languages without the risk of text display issues.

Introduced in LabVIEW 2026 Q3

UTF-8 string encoding allows you to create multilingual text displays and switch languages at run time. You can also use UTF-8 encoding to reliably display scientific symbols, emojis, and other characters not represented in ASCII.

Using UTF-8 encoding can cause errors if your code interacts with any APIs that only support system-encoded strings. Consult the following table for conversion considerations between UTF-8 and system-encoded strings.
Table 16. UTF-8 Conversion Considerations
System-Encoded String to UTF-8 String If your system-encoded string contains non-ASCII characters, you must have the appropriate system code page to convert the string to UTF-8.
UTF-8 String to System-Encoded String You must write code to handle conversion errors, as system-encoded strings cannot represent some UTF-8 characters.
Note If you are using a string to store binary data instead of text, you should not change the representation of the string to UTF-8. Converting a string you are using as a buffer to UTF-8 corrupts the data in the string.
Note You might encounter broken wires when wiring UTF-8 string controls to functions that only support system-encoded strings. Use the UTF-8 String to System String function to convert your strings and address wiring errors.
New VIs in LabVIEW use system-encoded strings by default, but you can create VIs with UTF-8 elements by completing the following steps:
  1. Open the New window by selecting File » New.
  2. Navigate to VI » From Template » Unicode (UTF-8) and select a template UTF-8 VI to start with.
You can use the UTF-8 Migration Tool in the Tools menu to migrate existing VIs to UTF-8.
LabVIEW does not support UTF-8 encoding for strings in the following areas and functions:
  • Paths
  • Menus
  • Control and indicator labels
  • Enumerations
  • Error clusters
  • I/O refnums
  • Some VI Server methods and properties
  • Call Library Function Node
  • .NET functions
  • ActiveX functions
  • NI and third-party driver and toolkit functions
Note Call Library Function Node parameters set to Adapt to Type support UTF-8 strings as inputs.