AEM Sites: Special characters not displaying in Rich Text Editor despite RTE plugin configuration
This article addresses an issue where special characters entered in the Rich Text Editor aren’t displayed in Adobe Experience Manager Sites, even after configuring the recommended RTE plugin.
Description description
Environment
Adobe Experience Manager Sites (all versions)
Issue/Symptoms
- Special characters (such as ©, ®, ™, etc.) entered in a Rich Text field aren’t displayed as expected in the authoring interface or on published pages.
- The issue persists even after enabling and configuring the recommended Rich Text Editor (RTE) plugin according to Configure the Rich Text Editor plug-ins.
- No explicit error messages are shown in the UI or logs.
Steps to Reproduce:
- Open a Rich Text field in an AEM Sites component.
- Enter special characters using the character map or keyboard input.
- Save and view the content; special characters are missing or not rendered correctly.
Resolution resolution
Follow these steps to resolve the issue:
- Confirm that the RTE plugin for special characters is enabled in the component’s dialog configuration.
- Review the RTE configuration at
/apps/<project>/config/cq:dialog/content/items/tabs/items/<tab>/items/<rte-field>/rtePluginsand ensure thespecialcharplugin is set to true. - Verify that the
specialCharsconfiguration includes the required characters. - If the configuration is correct and the issue persists, check for custom client libraries or overlays that may override the default RTE behavior.
- Monitor the progress of Bug SITES‑46532, which has been identified as the root cause and is scheduled for resolution in AEMaaCS 2026.06. Track updates via the official Adobe release notes or by opening a support case for status updates.
Cause
A product defect (Bug SITES‑46532) prevents special characters from displaying correctly in the Rich Text Editor, even when the plugin is configured as documented.
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