BOM Detector / Remover
Detect and remove Byte Order Mark (BOM) prefixes from text files.
Document & Markup Converter
About BOM Detector / Remover
The Byte Order Mark (BOM) Detector & Cleaner identifies and removes invisible zero-width BOM signatures (`0xEF, 0xBB, 0xBF` for UTF-8, `0xFE, 0xFF` for UTF-16) that break JSON parsers, bash shell scripts, and web server headers.
How to Use BOM Detector / Remover
Step 1
Upload any text or code file, or paste text.
Step 2
Review the BOM detection verdict and hex byte header inspection.
Step 3
Click "Strip BOM & Download" to get a clean file.
Practical Use Cases for BOM Detector / Remover
Fixing JSON Syntax Errors (`Unexpected token \ufeff`)
Strip hidden UTF-8 BOM headers added by Microsoft Notepad and Windows Excel that cause `JSON.parse()` and Node.js scripts to crash.
Fixing Bash Shebang Execution Failures
Remove leading BOM bytes from shell scripts that prevent Linux kernels from recognizing `#!/bin/bash` headers.
Input & Output Examples
Detecting & Stripping UTF-8 BOM
File with leading `\uFEFF` bytes (`EF BB BF`)
Status: ⚠️ UTF-8 BOM Found (3 bytes stripped) | Output: Clean UTF-8 file starting directly with payload data
Key Features & Performance
- ✓Detects UTF-8 BOM (`EF BB BF`), UTF-16BE BOM (`FE FF`), UTF-16LE BOM (`FF FE`), and UTF-32 BOMs.
- ✓1-Click "Remove BOM" or "Add BOM" (for legacy Windows Excel CSV compatibility).
- ✓Drag-and-drop local file processing with instant byte inspection.
- ✓100% Client-Side memory execution.
- ✓1-Click Download sanitized file.
Key Terminology & Definitions
Byte Order Mark (BOM)
A Unicode character (`U+FEFF`) placed at the start of a text file to signal the character encoding and endianness to the reader.
UTF-8 BOM (`0xEF 0xBB 0xBF`)
A 3-byte sequence used solely as an encoding signature in UTF-8; not recommended by the Unicode standard because UTF-8 has no byte order ambiguity.