diff --git a/CodeEdit.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj b/CodeEdit.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
index fda81b3782..d78da7221b 100644
--- a/CodeEdit.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
+++ b/CodeEdit.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 		283BDCBD2972EEBD002AFF81 /* Package.resolved in Resources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 283BDCBC2972EEBD002AFF81 /* Package.resolved */; };
 		283BDCC52972F236002AFF81 /* AcknowledgementsTests.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 283BDCC42972F236002AFF81 /* AcknowledgementsTests.swift */; };
 		2847019E27FDDF7600F87B6B /* OutlineView.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 2847019D27FDDF7600F87B6B /* OutlineView.swift */; };
+		284D384E29CF6CC500E37E86 /* String+Encoding.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 284D384D29CF6CC500E37E86 /* String+Encoding.swift */; };
 		284DC84F2978B7B400BF2770 /* ContributorsView.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 284DC84E2978B7B400BF2770 /* ContributorsView.swift */; };
 		284DC8512978BA2600BF2770 /* .all-contributorsrc in Resources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 284DC8502978BA2600BF2770 /* .all-contributorsrc */; };
 		285FEC7027FE4B9800E57D53 /* OutlineTableViewCell.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 285FEC6F27FE4B9800E57D53 /* OutlineTableViewCell.swift */; };
@@ -450,6 +451,7 @@
 		283BDCBC2972EEBD002AFF81 /* Package.resolved */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; lastKnownFileType = text; name = Package.resolved; path = CodeEdit.xcodeproj/project.xcworkspace/xcshareddata/swiftpm/Package.resolved; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		283BDCC42972F236002AFF81 /* AcknowledgementsTests.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = AcknowledgementsTests.swift; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		2847019D27FDDF7600F87B6B /* OutlineView.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = OutlineView.swift; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
+		284D384D29CF6CC500E37E86 /* String+Encoding.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = "String+Encoding.swift"; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		284DC84E2978B7B400BF2770 /* ContributorsView.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = ContributorsView.swift; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		284DC8502978BA2600BF2770 /* .all-contributorsrc */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = text; path = ".all-contributorsrc"; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		285FEC6D27FE4B4A00E57D53 /* OutlineViewController.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = OutlineViewController.swift; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
@@ -1851,6 +1853,7 @@
 			isa = PBXGroup;
 			children = (
 				58D01C8E293167DC00C5B6B4 /* String+MD5.swift */,
+				284D384D29CF6CC500E37E86 /* String+Encoding.swift */,
 				D7E201AD27E8B3C000CB86D0 /* String+Ranges.swift */,
 				58D01C8D293167DC00C5B6B4 /* String+RemoveOccurrences.swift */,
 				58D01C8C293167DC00C5B6B4 /* String+SHA256.swift */,
@@ -2549,6 +2552,7 @@
 				587B9DA029300ABD00AC7927 /* PanelDivider.swift in Sources */,
 				58822534292C280D00E83CDE /* CursorLocation.swift in Sources */,
 				201169E52837B40300F92B46 /* SourceControlNavigatorRepositoriesView.swift in Sources */,
+				284D384E29CF6CC500E37E86 /* String+Encoding.swift in Sources */,
 				587B9E6A29301D8F00AC7927 /* GitLabPermissions.swift in Sources */,
 				B6EA1FF529DA380E001BF195 /* TextEditingSettingsView.swift in Sources */,
 				D7DC4B76298FFBE900D6C83D /* OutlintViewController+OutlineTableViewCellDelegate.swift in Sources */,
diff --git a/CodeEdit/Features/CodeFile/CodeFile.swift b/CodeEdit/Features/CodeFile/CodeFile.swift
index 7a8d18c58e..552dd09e8e 100644
--- a/CodeEdit/Features/CodeFile/CodeFile.swift
+++ b/CodeEdit/Features/CodeFile/CodeFile.swift
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ final class CodeFileDocument: NSDocument, ObservableObject, QLPreviewItem {
     @Published
     var content = ""
 
+    @AppSettings(\.textEditing.defaultTextEncoding) var defaultTextEncoding
+
     /*
      This is the main type of the document.
      For example, if the file is end with '.png', it will be an image,
@@ -96,7 +98,10 @@ final class CodeFileDocument: NSDocument, ObservableObject, QLPreviewItem {
     /// This function is used for decoding files.
     /// It should not throw error as unsupported files can still be opened by QLPreviewView.
     override func read(from data: Data, ofType _: String) throws {
-        guard let content = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8) else { return }
+        guard let content = String(
+            data: data,
+            encoding: defaultTextEncoding
+        ) else { return }
         self.content = content
     }
 }
diff --git a/CodeEdit/Features/Settings/Pages/TextEditingSettings/Models/TextEditingSettings.swift b/CodeEdit/Features/Settings/Pages/TextEditingSettings/Models/TextEditingSettings.swift
index e9bbe63e0b..a80df0d172 100644
--- a/CodeEdit/Features/Settings/Pages/TextEditingSettings/Models/TextEditingSettings.swift
+++ b/CodeEdit/Features/Settings/Pages/TextEditingSettings/Models/TextEditingSettings.swift
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ extension SettingsData {
         /// A multiplier for setting the line height. Defaults to `1.45`
         var lineHeightMultiple: Double = 1.45
 
+        /// The default text encoding used, defaults to `.utf8`
+        var defaultTextEncoding: String.Encoding = .utf8
+
         /// Default initializer
         init() {
             self.populateCommands()
diff --git a/CodeEdit/Features/Settings/Pages/TextEditingSettings/TextEditingSettingsView.swift b/CodeEdit/Features/Settings/Pages/TextEditingSettings/TextEditingSettingsView.swift
index 4ed39e592d..2e7e2a5b5b 100644
--- a/CodeEdit/Features/Settings/Pages/TextEditingSettings/TextEditingSettingsView.swift
+++ b/CodeEdit/Features/Settings/Pages/TextEditingSettings/TextEditingSettingsView.swift
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ struct TextEditingSettingsView: View {
             Section {
                 autocompleteBraces
                 enableTypeOverCompletion
+                textEncoding
             }
         }
     }
@@ -90,4 +91,15 @@ private extension TextEditingSettingsView {
                 .foregroundColor(.secondary)
         }
     }
+
+    private var textEncoding: some View {
+        Picker("Default Text Encoding", selection: $textEditing.defaultTextEncoding) {
+            ForEach(String.Encoding.allGroups, id: \.self) { group in
+                ForEach(group, id: \.rawValue) { encoding in
+                    Text(encoding.description)
+                        .tag(encoding)
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/CodeEdit/Utils/Extensions/String/String+Encoding.swift b/CodeEdit/Utils/Extensions/String/String+Encoding.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..79b029770d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CodeEdit/Utils/Extensions/String/String+Encoding.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+//
+//  String+Encoding.swift
+//  CodeEdit
+//
+//  Created by Lukas Pistrol on 25.03.23.
+//
+
+import Foundation
+
+extension String.Encoding: Codable {
+    static var allGroups: [[String.Encoding]] {
+        [
+            Self.allUnicodes,
+            Self.allAscii,
+            Self.allLatin,
+            Self.allJapanese,
+            Self.allWindows,
+            Self.others
+        ]
+    }
+
+    static var allAscii: [String.Encoding] {
+        [
+            .ascii,
+            .nonLossyASCII
+        ]
+    }
+
+    static var allJapanese: [String.Encoding] {
+        [
+            .iso2022JP,
+            .japaneseEUC
+        ]
+    }
+
+    static var allLatin: [String.Encoding] {
+        [
+            .isoLatin1,
+            .isoLatin2,
+            .macOSRoman
+        ]
+    }
+
+    static var allUnicodes: [String.Encoding] {
+        [
+            .utf8,
+            .utf16,
+            .utf16BigEndian,
+            .utf16LittleEndian,
+            .utf32,
+            .utf32BigEndian,
+            .utf32LittleEndian
+        ]
+    }
+
+    static var allWindows: [String.Encoding] {
+        [
+            .windowsCP1250,
+            .windowsCP1251,
+            .windowsCP1252,
+            .windowsCP1253,
+            .windowsCP1254
+        ]
+    }
+
+    static var others: [String.Encoding] {
+        [
+            .nextstep,
+            .shiftJIS,
+            .symbol
+        ]
+    }
+}