Convert output of MySQL query to UTF8?

You need to use CAST() or CONVERT() function to convert output of MySQL query to UTF8. Here, I am using MySQL version 8.0.12. Let us first check the version:

mysql> select version();
+-----------+
| version() |
+-----------+
| 8.0.12    |
+-----------+
1 row in set (0.00 sec)

In this if you use utf8 then you will get warning of aliases because it has utf8mb4. Therefore, you can avoid the warning by placing utf8mb4.

Note: Never use UTF8. For current versions, use UTF8MB4

Here is the syntax to convert output of MySQL query to UTF8:

SELECT yourColumnName1,convert(yourColumnName2 USING utf8) as anyVariableName FROM yourTableName;

You can use another syntax which is as follows:

SELECT yourColumnName1,CONVERT(CAST(yourColumnName2 as BINARY) USING utf8) as anyVariableName FROM yourTableName;

To understand the above syntax, let us create a table. The query to create a table is as follows:

mysql> create table ConvertOutputtoUtf8Demo
   -> (
   -> Id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
   -> Name varchar(20),
   -> Age int,
   -> PRIMARY KEY(Id)
   -> );
Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.79 sec)

Insert some records in the table using insert command. The query is as follows:

mysql> insert into ConvertOutputtoUtf8Demo(Name,Age) values('John',24);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.78 sec)
mysql> insert into ConvertOutputtoUtf8Demo(Name,Age) values('Larry',21);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.15 sec)
mysql> insert into ConvertOutputtoUtf8Demo(Name,Age) values('Carol',26);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.12 sec)
mysql> insert into ConvertOutputtoUtf8Demo(Name,Age) values('Mike',27);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.18 sec)
mysql> insert into ConvertOutputtoUtf8Demo(Name,Age) values('Sam',22);
Query OK, 1 row affected (0.15 sec)

Display all records from the table using select statement. The query is as follows:

mysql> select *from ConvertOutputtoUtf8Demo;

The following is the output:

+----+-------+------+
| Id | Name  | Age  |
+----+-------+------+
|  1 | John  | 24   |
|  2 | Larry | 21   |
|  3 | Carol | 26   |
|  4 | Mike  | 27   |
|  5 | Sam   | 22   |
+----+-------+------+
5 rows in set (0.00 sec)

Here is the query to convert output of MySQL query to UTF8:

mysql> select Id,convert(Name using utf8) as ConvertToUtf8 from ConvertOutputtoUtf8Demo;

The following is the output:

+----+---------------+
| Id | ConvertToUtf8 |
+----+---------------+
| 1 | John           |
| 2 | Larry          |
| 3 | Carol          |
| 4 | Mike           |
| 5 | Sam            |
+----+---------------+
5 rows in set, 1 warning (0.00 sec)

You can use another query which is as follows:

mysql> SELECT Id,CONVERT(CAST(Name as BINARY) USING utf8) as ConvertToUtf8 FROM ConvertOutputtoUtf8Demo;

The following is the output:

+----+---------------+
| Id | ConvertToUtf8 |
+----+---------------+
| 1 | John           |
| 2 | Larry          |
| 3 | Carol          |
| 4 | Mike           |
| 5 | Sam            |
+----+---------------+
5 rows in set, 1 warning (0.00 sec)