Title: Supported character sets and collations
Author: WordPress VIP Documentation
Published: May 27, 2022
Last modified: December 29, 2025

---

 1. [Databases](https://docs.wpvip.com/databases/)
 2. Supported character sets and collations

#  Supported character sets and collations

The default setting for `DB_CHARSET` is `utf8mb4`, and `DB_COLLATE` is defined as`
utf8mb4_unicode_ci` on all [SQL databases for WordPress VIP Platform environments](https://docs.wpvip.com/databases/).

In order to avoid unexpected issues, [SQL database files for import](https://docs.wpvip.com/databases/import/)
should use the `utf8mb4` character set.

Tables created with the `utf8` charset are compatible but should be avoided due 
to their inability to store [4-byte characters](https://design215.com/toolbox/utf8-4byte-characters.php)(
e.g., emojis, musical symbols).

## Collations supported by `utf8mb4`

To successfully [import a SQL file to a database](https://docs.wpvip.com/databases/import/)
on the WPVIP Platform, the file must use one of the collations and character sets
supported by `utf8mb4` that are included in the list below.

    ```wp-block-preformatted
    | utf8mb4_general_ci           |
    | utf8mb4_bin                  | 
    | utf8mb4_unicode_ci           | 
    | utf8mb4_icelandic_ci         | 
    | utf8mb4_latvian_ci           | 
    | utf8mb4_romanian_ci          | 
    | utf8mb4_slovenian_ci         | 
    | utf8mb4_polish_ci            | 
    | utf8mb4_estonian_ci          | 
    | utf8mb4_spanish_ci           | 
    | utf8mb4_swedish_ci           | 
    | utf8mb4_turkish_ci           | 
    | utf8mb4_czech_ci             | 
    | utf8mb4_danish_ci            | 
    | utf8mb4_lithuanian_ci        | 
    | utf8mb4_slovak_ci            | 
    | utf8mb4_spanish2_ci          | 
    | utf8mb4_roman_ci             | 
    | utf8mb4_persian_ci           | 
    | utf8mb4_esperanto_ci         | 
    | utf8mb4_hungarian_ci         | 
    | utf8mb4_sinhala_ci           | 
    | utf8mb4_german2_ci           | 
    | utf8mb4_croatian_mysql561_ci | 
    | utf8mb4_unicode_520_ci       | 
    | utf8mb4_vietnamese_ci        | 
    | utf8mb4_croatian_ci          | 
    | utf8mb4_myanmar_ci           | 
    | utf8mb4_thai_520_w2          | 
    | utf8mb4_general_nopad_ci     | 
    | utf8mb4_nopad_bin            | 
    | utf8mb4_unicode_nopad_ci     | 
    | utf8mb4_unicode_520_nopad_ci | 
    ```

Last updated: December 29, 2025