# status_bar: Add encoding indicator \(\#45476\) · gitcafe/zed

[View on GitCafe](https://git.cafe/gitcafe/zed/commit/6b90aaa1bd055ad08f90aed49bf515f3756e88ee)

Repository: [gitcafe/zed](https://git.cafe/gitcafe/zed)

Visibility: public

Requested revision: 6b90aaa1bd055ad08f90aed49bf515f3756e88ee

Requested commit: 6b90aaa1bd055ad08f90aed49bf515f3756e88ee

Commit: 6b90aaa1bd055ad08f90aed49bf515f3756e88ee

Tree: d0ad757479c376bd62fe90dad7ac3a976b91fcae

Author: Ichimura Tomoo

Committer: GitHub

## Message

````
status_bar: Add encoding indicator (#45476)

## Context / Related PRs This PR is the third part of the encoding
support improvements, following:
- #44819: Introduced initial legacy encoding support (Shift-JIS, etc.).
- #45243: Fixed UTF-16 saving behavior and improved binary detection.

## Summary
This PR implements a status bar item that displays the character
encoding of the active buffer (e.g., `UTF-8`, `Shift_JIS`). It provides
visibility into the file's encoding and indicates the presence of a Byte
Order Mark (BOM).

## Features
- **Encoding Indicator**: Displays the encoding name in the status bar.
- **BOM Support**: Appends `(BOM)` to the encoding name if a BOM is
detected (e.g., `UTF-8 (BOM)`).
- **Configuration**: The active_encoding_button setting in status_bar
accepts "enabled", "disabled", or "non_utf8". The default is "non_utf8",
which displays the indicator for all encodings except standard UTF-8
(without BOM).
- **Settings UI**: Provides a dropdown menu in the Settings UI to
control this behavior.
- **Documentation**: Updated `configuring-zed.md` and
`visual-customization.md`.

## Implementation Details
- Created `ActiveBufferEncoding` component in
`crates/encoding_selector`.
- The click handler for the button is currently a **no-op**.
Implementing the functionality to reopen files with a specific encoding
has potential implications for real-time collaboration (e.g., syncing
buffer interpretation across peers). Therefore, this PR focuses strictly
on the visualization and configuration aspects to keep the scope simple
and focused.
- Updated schema and default settings to include
`active_encoding_button`.

## Screenshots

<img width="487" height="104" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/041f096d-ac69-4bad-ac53-20cdcb41f733"
/>
<img width="454" height="99" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ed76daa2-2733-484f-bb1f-4688357c035a"
/>


## Configuration
To hide the button, add the following to `settings.json`:
```json
"status_bar": {
  "active_encoding_button": "disabled"
}
```

- **enabled**: Always show the encoding.
- **disabled**: Never show the encoding.
- **non_utf8**: Shows for non-UTF-8 encodings and UTF-8 with BOM. Only
hides for standard UTF-8 (Default).

<img width="1347" height="415" alt="image"
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7f4f4938-3320-4d21-852c-53ee886d9a44"
/>

## Heuristic Limitations:
The underlying detection logic (implemented in #44819 and #45243)
prioritizes UTF-8 opening performance and does not guarantee perfect
detection for all encodings. We consider this margin of error
acceptable, similar to the behavior seen in VS Code. A future "Reopen
with Encoding" feature would serve as the primary fallback for any
misdetections.

Release Notes:

- Added a status bar item to display the active file's character encoding (e.g. `UTF-16`). This shows for non-utf8 files by default and can be configured with `{"status_bar":{"active_encoding_button":"disabled|enabled|non_utf8"}}`
````

## Parents

- [7274a96154da19c49ed96a20abe1aed3eea3f5d4](https://git.cafe/gitcafe/zed/commit/7274a96154da19c49ed96a20abe1aed3eea3f5d4?format=markdown)

[Source at this commit](https://git.cafe/gitcafe/zed/tree/6b90aaa1bd055ad08f90aed49bf515f3756e88ee?format=markdown)