# Character Sets Supported

SingleStore supports a variety of character sets in the Unicode standard and their associated collations. To view supported character sets, run the [SHOW CHARACTER SET](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/show-commands/show-character-set.md) command. This displays the character sets along with their default collation and the maximum byte length of the characters within each character set.

```sql
SHOW CHARACTER SET;

```

```output

+---------+-----------------------+--------------------+--------+
| Charset | Description           | Default collation  | Maxlen |
+---------+-----------------------+--------------------+--------+
| utf8mb4 | UTF-8 Unicode         | utf8mb4_bin        |      4 |
| utf8    | UTF-8 Unicode         | utf8_bin           |      3 |
| binary  | Binary pseudo charset | binary             |      1 |
+---------+-----------------------+--------------------+--------+
```

Alternatively, retrieve the supported character sets from the [CHARACTER\_SETS](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/information-schema-reference/cluster-component/character-sets.md) information schema view by using a `SELECT` statement with optional `LIKE` and `WHERE` clauses.

```sql
SELECT * FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.CHARACTER_SETS WHERE CHARACTER_SET_NAME = 'utf8mb4';

```

```output

+--------------------+----------------------+---------------+--------+
| CHARACTER_SET_NAME | DEFAULT_COLLATE_NAME | DESCRIPTION   | MAXLEN |
+--------------------+----------------------+---------------+--------+
| utf8mb4            | utf8mb4_bin          | UTF-8 Unicode |      4 |
+--------------------+----------------------+---------------+--------+

```

## Character Sets Supported by Features

## `binary`

A character set used for encoding binary strings. This character set has `binary` as the default collation.

> **❗ Important**: The binary character set is a universal feature that is supported across most applicable database schema objects and commands.

## `utf8`

An alias for `utf8mb3`, which is a Unicode character set that supports encoding of characters using 1 to 3 bytes per character. This character set is used for encoding the characters in the BMP. `utf8_bin` is the default collation assigned to this character set.

> **❗ Important**: The `utf8` character set is a universal feature that is supported across most applicable database schema objects and commands.

## `utf8mb4`

A Unicode character set that supports encoding of characters using 1 to 4 bytes per character.  This character set is used for encoding all the characters in the BMP and supplementary characters that lie outside the BMP, including the private use area (PUA) which can contain pictographic symbols (emojis) and ancient scripts, such as Egyptian hieroglyphs. `utf8mb4_bin` is the default collation assigned to this character set.

SingleStore uses the `utf8mb4` character set by default.

`utf8mb4` is supported for specific database schema objects and commands that are discussed in the following sections.

## Data Types

The following [data types](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/data-types.md) can store `utf8mb4` Unicode characters.

* `JSON`
* `CHAR`
* `VARCHAR`
* `LONGTEXT`, `MEDIUMTEXT`, `TEXT`, `TINYTEXT`
* `ENUM`
* `SET`

## String Functions

[String Functions](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/string-functions.md) can be used with strings with the `utf8mb4` character set. For example, the [LENGTH](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/string-functions/length.md) string function returns the number of bytes in a string that uses the `utf8mb4` character set.

```sql
SELECT LENGTH('Hello world!🙂');

```

```output

+----------------------------+
| LENGTH('Hello world!🙂')   |
+----------------------------+
|                         16 |
+----------------------------+
```

## JSON Functions

[JSON Functions](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/json-functions.md) can be used with `JSON` columns and string arguments with the `utf8` and `utf8mb4` character sets and the `utf8_bin` and `utf8mb4_bin` collations. For example, the [JSON\_AGG](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/json-functions/json-agg.md) function aggregates a `JSON` column that supports the `utf8mb4` character set.

## Procedural Extensions

In [procedural extensions](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/developer-resources/procedural-extensions.md) such as stored procedures and user-defined functions, parameters and variables with `utf8mb4` Unicode characters can be used. In addition, the tables and columns introduced in procedural extensions can store `utf8mb4` Unicode characters.

## Pipelines

[Pipelines](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/load-data/about-singlestore-pipelines.md) can ingest and process data with the `utf8mb4` character set from the supported data sources. The columns that store the ingested data must be configured to support the `utf8mb4` character set.

## LOAD DATA

The [LOAD DATA](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/data-manipulation-language-dml/load-data.md) statement allows the import of files with any supported character set, including `utf8mb4`, into SingleStore. The columns that store the imported data must be configured to support the `utf8mb4` character set.

***

Modified at: April 15, 2026

Source: [/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/character-encoding/character-sets-supported/](https://docs.singlestore.com/db/v9.1/reference/sql-reference/character-encoding/character-sets-supported/)

(An index of the documentation is available at /llms.txt)