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Hebrew prints as boxes or strange letters

Hebrew shows as boxes when the program opening the file is missing a Hebrew font, and as gibberish (like שלו×) when Excel opens a CSV file the wrong way.

Who does this: Everyone5 steps
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  1. 1

    In Excel: use the Excel download

    Wherever there's an "Excel (.xlsx)" choice, use it instead of CSV — Hebrew always comes out right.

    Excel keeps Hebrew correct.
  2. 2

    CSV files in Excel

    The Report builder and some other downloads are CSV. Don't double-click. In Excel: Data → From Text/CSV → choose the file → "File origin": "65001: Unicode (UTF-8)" → Load.

    This download is a CSV file.
  3. 3

    PDFs and printed receipts

    Yahiv's PDFs carry their own Hebrew font. If a PDF still shows boxes, open it in a different viewer (Chrome or Adobe Reader). If it's the same everywhere, tell Yahiv support which page it came from.

  4. 4

    Printing from the browser

    Use an up-to-date Chrome, Edge or Safari. Very old browsers may lack Hebrew fonts.

  5. 5

    Text messages

    Hebrew in texts works, but each text piece is shorter (70 characters), so long messages cost more.

    Hebrew makes each piece 70 characters.

Tips

  • Google Sheets opens Yahiv CSV files with Hebrew correctly.
  • Hebrew names on People are searched in Hebrew too.

If something isn't working

Hebrew is backwards in a printed letter.

Set the person's language to Hebrew or Yiddish so the letter is right-to-left.

Question marks instead of Hebrew.

The file was saved in an old format somewhere along the way. Download it again from Yahiv as Excel.

Still stuck after all these checks?

Press the help button and ask Yahiv, or write to Yahiv support with what you tried and a screenshot. Nobody minds — that's what support is for.

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Hebrew prints as boxes or strange letters · Yahiv help · Yahiv