Converter · legacy font
Preeti to Unicode Converter
Paste text typed in the old Preeti font and get clean Nepali Unicode you can use in Word, email, Facebook or any modern system.
Runs in your browserNothing uploadedNo sign-up
It checks its own work
Paste anything and the converter tells you which legacy font it thinks the text was typed in and how confident it is. It does that by converting with every mapping it knows and scoring each result for how much like real Nepali it looks — counting letter combinations Devanagari does not permit, leftover Latin characters, and common Nepali particles such as को, मा and छ.
So if you paste Kantipur text, you get a warning instead of output that is half right. Half right is worse than a clear failure, because you would have to proofread every word to find the damage.
Found a word that converts wrongly? Email contact@nepali-english.com with the original text and what it should say. Reports that name the exact input are the ones that get fixed the same day.
How to convert Preeti to Unicode
- Open the old document and select the Preeti text you want to convert.
- Copy it and paste it into the left box above. Conversion happens as you type.
- Press Copy result to take the Unicode text.
- Paste it back into your document, then set the font to a Unicode Devanagari face such as Kalimati, Mangal or Noto Sans Devanagari.
What Preeti actually is
Preeti is not an encoding. It is a font from the era before Unicode reached
Nepali, and it works by a trick: it draws Devanagari shapes on top of Latin
code points. When a Preeti document stores the letter g, the file
really contains the letter g. Only the font makes it appear as न.
That is why Preeti text turns into nonsense the moment the font is missing. The characters were never Nepali to begin with.
Preeti and Unicode compared
| Preeti | Unicode | |
|---|---|---|
| What is stored | Latin letters | Actual Devanagari characters |
| Needs the font installed | Yes, always | No |
| Searchable | No | Yes |
| Works on phones | Rarely | Yes |
| Safe for email and web | No | Yes |
| Still common in | Government files, print shops | Everything else |
Why your Nepali text shows up as gibberish
If a document opens as strings like g]kfn or ljBfno,
nothing is corrupted. You are looking at Preeti-encoded text being rendered by
an ordinary Latin font. Installing Preeti would make it readable again, but it
would still be unsearchable and unusable outside that one machine. Converting it
once, to Unicode, fixes the problem permanently.
Two things the converter has to get right
Mapping characters one by one is only half the job. Preeti stores text in the order the shapes are drawn, while Unicode stores it in the order the letters are spoken. Two marks move as a result:
- The i-kar (ि) is drawn to the left of its consonant, so Preeti puts it first. Unicode puts it after the whole consonant cluster.
- The reph (र्) is drawn above the cluster it belongs to, so Preeti types it last. Unicode puts it first.
A converter that skips this step produces text that looks correct in no font at all. This one reorders both before returning the result.
Common problems and fixes
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Half the text converts, half does not | The document mixes Preeti with Unicode | Convert the Preeti runs separately |
| Output has odd Latin letters left in it | The source is Kantipur or another lookalike font | Check the font name in the original |
| Extra spaces between letters | Manual spacing added by the original typist | Remove the spaces after converting |
| Result shows boxes or question marks | Your font has no Devanagari coverage | Switch to Kalimati or Noto Sans Devanagari |
Frequently asked questions
Is this Preeti converter free?
Yes, and there is no sign-up or usage limit. The conversion happens inside your browser, so your text is never uploaded to a server.
Why does my converted text still look wrong?
Two things cause almost every problem. Either the original was not Preeti but a lookalike such as Kantipur or Sagarmatha, which use a different layout, or the source contains manual spacing that Preeti users added by eye. Check the font name in the original document first.
Can I convert a whole Word file at once?
Not yet. For now, open the document, select all the Preeti text, paste it here, and paste the result back. Set the font to a Unicode Devanagari face such as Kalimati or Noto Sans Devanagari before pasting.
Does the converter handle ि and र् correctly?
It does. Preeti stores text in the order the glyphs are drawn, so the i-kar sits before its consonant and the reph sits after its cluster. Unicode stores them the other way round. This tool reorders both.
Will my text stay private?
Yes. The converter is plain JavaScript running on your device. Nothing you paste leaves the page, and nothing is logged.