---
title: "Breaking: #97065 - TYPO3 Frontend always rendered in UTF-8"
manual: "TYPO3 Core Changelog"
version: "main"
permalink: "https://docs.typo3.org/permalink/changelog:breaking-97065"
source: "Changelog/12.0/Breaking-97065-TYPO3FrontendAlwaysRenderedInUTF-8.rst"
typo3-version: "12.0"
typo3-major: 12
type: "breaking"
issue: 97065
forge: "https://forge.typo3.org/issues/97065"
tags: ["Frontend", "PHP-API", "TypoScript", "FullyScanned", "ext:frontend"]
rendered: "2026-09-20T18:31:11+00:00"
---

# Breaking: #97065 - TYPO3 Frontend always rendered in UTF-8 {#breaking-97065}

See [forge#97065](https://forge.typo3.org/issues/97065)

## Description {#description}

For historical reasons, it was possible to change the actual rendering charset
of TYPO3's Frontend Output to a specific character set, and also to modify the
"renderCharset", which was removed in TYPO3 v8.0. Since TYPO3 v6, the default
rendering output was set to "utf-8", and nowadays, it has become a niche
to change the output rendering charset to a different value than UTF-8.

For this reason, the TypoScript setting `config.metaCharset` has no effect
anymore as all rendering for Frontend is "utf-8" and not changeable anymore.

If this TypoScript setting was set to "utf-8" in previous installations,
this line could have been removed anyways already.

The public PHP property `TypoScriptFrontendController->metaCharset` is
removed, along with the public method
`TypoScriptFrontendController->convOutputCharset()`.

## Impact {#impact}

TYPO3 installations with a different setting than "utf-8" will now output
"utf-8" output at all times.

TYPO3 extensions accessing the removed property will trigger a PHP warning, or
calling the removed method `convOutputCharset()` will see a fatal PHP error.

## Affected Installations {#affected-installations}

TYPO3 installations using `config.metaCharset` set to a value other than
`utf-8`, or accessing the removed property or method. The Extension Scanner
in the Install Tool will detect usages of the removed property and method.

## Migration {#migration}

TYPO3 Installations with a different charset than UTF-8 should convert their own
content in a custom middleware, as this specific use-case is not supported by
TYPO3 Core anymore.

TYPO3 installations with TypoScript option set `config.metaCharset = utf-8` can
remove the TypoScript line in previous supported TYPO3 versions.

Any usage of the removed property / method should be removed.