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Strange characters appearing in my bank credit card statements on my desktop, but not on my laptop

  • 3 replies
  • 0 have this problem
  • 6 views
  • Last reply by zeroknight

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When downloading my bank credit card statements on my desktop (but not on my laptop), all the numbers appear in strange characters like hieroglyphics.This also happened about 4-5 weeks ago then corrected. I talked to my bank and after looking at the problem, said it must be a problem with the browser, as it doesn't happen on my laptop or on their review of the statements.


Below is a screenshot example.

When downloading my bank credit card statements on my desktop (but not on my laptop), all the numbers appear in strange characters like hieroglyphics.This also happened about 4-5 weeks ago then corrected. I talked to my bank and after looking at the problem, said it must be a problem with the browser, as it doesn't happen on my laptop or on their review of the statements. Below is a screenshot example.

All Replies (3)

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Could be a problem with fonts embedded in the PDF file if this is about this file format.

You can right-click and select "Inspect" to open the built-in Inspector with this element selected.


You can check in the Rules tab in the right panel in the Inspector what font-family is used for selected text. You can check in the Fonts tab in the right panel in the Inspector what font is actually used because Firefox might be using a different font than specified by the website. If the Fonts tab is hidden, click the down arrow at the right end.

If you use extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) that can block content (Adblock Plus, NoScript, DuckDuckGo PE, Disconnect, Ghostery, Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin) always make sure such extensions do not block content.

You can try these steps in case of issues with webpages:

You can reload webpage(s) and bypass the cache to refresh possibly outdated or corrupted files.

  • hold down the Shift key and left-click the Reload button
  • press "Ctrl + F5" or press "Ctrl + Shift + R" (Windows,Linux)
  • press "Command + Shift + R" (Mac)

Clear the Cache and remove the Cookies for websites that cause problems via the "3-bar" Firefox menu button (Settings).

"Remove the Cookies" for websites that cause problems:

  • Settings -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data: "Manage Data"

"Clear the Cache":

  • Settings -> Privacy & Security
    Cookies and Site Data -> Clear Data -> [X] Cached Web Content -> Clear

Start Firefox in Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of the extensions ("3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Extensions) or if hardware acceleration or if userChrome.css/userContent.css is causing the problem.

  • switch to the Default System theme: "3-bar" menu button or Tools -> Add-ons -> Themes
  • do NOT click the "Refresh Firefox" button on the Troubleshoot Mode start window
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Can't be bothered to spend more time on Firefox to solve this problem- no problem on Chrome so I will use that instead

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Does it still happen in a new profile? An easy way to test a new profile is to install Developer Edition and see if it happens there or refresh your existing profile.