MySQL Workbench table export UnicodeEncodeError

Question

I am trying to export one of our production tables so I can import it to a local db to experiment with.

But I get this error:

Traceback (most recent call last): File "/Applications/MySQLWorkbench.app/Contents/Resources/libraries/workbench/wizard_progress_page_widget.py", line 197, in thread_work self.func() File "/Applications/MySQLWorkbench.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/sqlide_power_export_wizard.py", line 273, in start_export retval = self.module.start(self.stop) File "/Applications/MySQLWorkbench.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/sqlide_power_import_export_be.py", line 302, in start ret = self.start_export() File "/Applications/MySQLWorkbench.app/Contents/Resources/plugins/sqlide_power_import_export_be.py", line 398, in start_export output.writerow(row) UnicodeEncodeError: 'ascii' codec can't encode character '\xf6' in position 10: ordinal not in range(128)
ERROR: Export data to file: 'ascii' codec can't encode character '\xf6' in position 10: ordinal not in range(128)

I am running version 8.0.26 on MacOS.

Edit: I used the following options:

File Format: csv
Field Separator: ;
Line Separator: LF
Enclose Strings In: "
null and NULL as SQL keyword: YES

I also tried using , as separator but no luck.

However, exporting as JSON works! It seems slower though :/

And do post a link to the bug report here, because it also happens in version 8.0.28 😕 — Luuk
– Luuk, Commented Feb 13, 2022 at 10:20

Myo Tun Hlaing · Accepted Answer · 2022-06-29 06:45:00Z

18

If you are using on mac, try starting mySql Workbench from command.

open /Applications/MySQLWorkbench.app

answered Jun 29, 2022 at 6:45

Myo Tun Hlaing

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3 Comments

tjgragg Over a year ago

The year is 2024. The OP is still a problem. Why did this actually fix it??

pok_net Over a year ago

this is issue is still active with macos and WorkBench 8.0.34 and this trick i.e. opening it from terminal still fixes the issue! thanks

Mitch Talmadge Jun 23, 2025 at 7:34

This fixed CSV export for me on macOS 26 Tahoe (beta) and Workbench 8.0.42. Thanks!!!

Anastasiia Solop · Accepted Answer · 2022-12-28 03:06:40Z

1

I had the same issue and exporting it to JSON instead of CSV helped. You can use JSON for importing data just like CSV.

answered Dec 28, 2022 at 3:06

Anastasiia Solop

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1 Comment

Mitch Talmadge Jun 23, 2025 at 7:36

JSON also worked for me but import is much slower with JSON

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