UTF-16 LE
UnicodeLittle-endian UTF-16. Used internally by Windows, Java, and .NET. Variable-width: 2 bytes for BMP characters, 4 bytes (surrogate pairs) for supplementary characters.
- IANA Name
- UTF-16LE
- Byte Width
- 2–4 bytes
- BOM
- FF FE
- Introduced
- 1996
UTF-32 LE
UnicodeFixed-width encoding using 4 bytes per character. Simple to process but memory-inefficient. Little-endian byte order.
- IANA Name
- UTF-32LE
- Byte Width
- 4–4 bytes
- BOM
- FF FE 00 00
- Introduced
- 2003
Both UTF-16 LE and UTF-32 LE are Unicode encodings — they represent the same 138,571 characters. The difference is in how the bytes are arranged. The table below shows how the first 128 codepoints (the ASCII range) are encoded in each.
ASCII Range (U+0000–U+007F)
| Char | Codepoint | UTF-16 LE | UTF-32 LE | Same? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U+0000 | 00 00 | 00 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0001 | 01 00 | 01 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0002 | 02 00 | 02 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0003 | 03 00 | 03 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0004 | 04 00 | 04 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0005 | 05 00 | 05 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0006 | 06 00 | 06 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0007 | 07 00 | 07 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0008 | 08 00 | 08 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0009 | 09 00 | 09 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+000A | 0A 00 | 0A 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+000B | 0B 00 | 0B 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+000C | 0C 00 | 0C 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+000D | 0D 00 | 0D 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+000E | 0E 00 | 0E 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+000F | 0F 00 | 0F 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0010 | 10 00 | 10 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0011 | 11 00 | 11 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0012 | 12 00 | 12 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0013 | 13 00 | 13 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0014 | 14 00 | 14 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0015 | 15 00 | 15 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0016 | 16 00 | 16 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0017 | 17 00 | 17 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0018 | 18 00 | 18 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0019 | 19 00 | 19 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+001A | 1A 00 | 1A 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+001B | 1B 00 | 1B 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+001C | 1C 00 | 1C 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+001D | 1D 00 | 1D 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+001E | 1E 00 | 1E 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+001F | 1F 00 | 1F 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| U+0020 | 20 00 | 20 00 00 00 | ≠ | |
| ! | U+0021 | 21 00 | 21 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| " | U+0022 | 22 00 | 22 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| # | U+0023 | 23 00 | 23 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| $ | U+0024 | 24 00 | 24 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| % | U+0025 | 25 00 | 25 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| & | U+0026 | 26 00 | 26 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| ' | U+0027 | 27 00 | 27 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| ( | U+0028 | 28 00 | 28 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| ) | U+0029 | 29 00 | 29 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| * | U+002A | 2A 00 | 2A 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| + | U+002B | 2B 00 | 2B 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| , | U+002C | 2C 00 | 2C 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| - | U+002D | 2D 00 | 2D 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| . | U+002E | 2E 00 | 2E 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| / | U+002F | 2F 00 | 2F 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| 0 | U+0030 | 30 00 | 30 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| 1 | U+0031 | 31 00 | 31 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| 2 | U+0032 | 32 00 | 32 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| 3 | U+0033 | 33 00 | 33 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| 4 | U+0034 | 34 00 | 34 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| 5 | U+0035 | 35 00 | 35 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| 6 | U+0036 | 36 00 | 36 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| 7 | U+0037 | 37 00 | 37 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| 8 | U+0038 | 38 00 | 38 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| 9 | U+0039 | 39 00 | 39 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| : | U+003A | 3A 00 | 3A 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| ; | U+003B | 3B 00 | 3B 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| < | U+003C | 3C 00 | 3C 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| = | U+003D | 3D 00 | 3D 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| > | U+003E | 3E 00 | 3E 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| ? | U+003F | 3F 00 | 3F 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| @ | U+0040 | 40 00 | 40 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| A | U+0041 | 41 00 | 41 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| B | U+0042 | 42 00 | 42 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| C | U+0043 | 43 00 | 43 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| D | U+0044 | 44 00 | 44 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| E | U+0045 | 45 00 | 45 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| F | U+0046 | 46 00 | 46 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| G | U+0047 | 47 00 | 47 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| H | U+0048 | 48 00 | 48 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| I | U+0049 | 49 00 | 49 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| J | U+004A | 4A 00 | 4A 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| K | U+004B | 4B 00 | 4B 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| L | U+004C | 4C 00 | 4C 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| M | U+004D | 4D 00 | 4D 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| N | U+004E | 4E 00 | 4E 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| O | U+004F | 4F 00 | 4F 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| P | U+0050 | 50 00 | 50 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| Q | U+0051 | 51 00 | 51 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| R | U+0052 | 52 00 | 52 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| S | U+0053 | 53 00 | 53 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| T | U+0054 | 54 00 | 54 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| U | U+0055 | 55 00 | 55 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| V | U+0056 | 56 00 | 56 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| W | U+0057 | 57 00 | 57 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| X | U+0058 | 58 00 | 58 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| Y | U+0059 | 59 00 | 59 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| Z | U+005A | 5A 00 | 5A 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| [ | U+005B | 5B 00 | 5B 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| \ | U+005C | 5C 00 | 5C 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| ] | U+005D | 5D 00 | 5D 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| ^ | U+005E | 5E 00 | 5E 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| _ | U+005F | 5F 00 | 5F 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| ` | U+0060 | 60 00 | 60 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| a | U+0061 | 61 00 | 61 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| b | U+0062 | 62 00 | 62 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| c | U+0063 | 63 00 | 63 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| d | U+0064 | 64 00 | 64 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| e | U+0065 | 65 00 | 65 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| f | U+0066 | 66 00 | 66 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| g | U+0067 | 67 00 | 67 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| h | U+0068 | 68 00 | 68 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| i | U+0069 | 69 00 | 69 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| j | U+006A | 6A 00 | 6A 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| k | U+006B | 6B 00 | 6B 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| l | U+006C | 6C 00 | 6C 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| m | U+006D | 6D 00 | 6D 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| n | U+006E | 6E 00 | 6E 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| o | U+006F | 6F 00 | 6F 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| p | U+0070 | 70 00 | 70 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| q | U+0071 | 71 00 | 71 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| r | U+0072 | 72 00 | 72 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| s | U+0073 | 73 00 | 73 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| t | U+0074 | 74 00 | 74 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| u | U+0075 | 75 00 | 75 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| v | U+0076 | 76 00 | 76 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| w | U+0077 | 77 00 | 77 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| x | U+0078 | 78 00 | 78 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| y | U+0079 | 79 00 | 79 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| z | U+007A | 7A 00 | 7A 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| { | U+007B | 7B 00 | 7B 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| | | U+007C | 7C 00 | 7C 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| } | U+007D | 7D 00 | 7D 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| ~ | U+007E | 7E 00 | 7E 00 00 00 | ≠ |
| U+007F | 7F 00 | 7F 00 00 00 | ≠ |
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