How to fix locale/ Problems with special characters

FAQ
1

Note: The following applies if your ownCloud server is running on Linux; it is not valid for an ownCloud server running under Windows; on Windows there is another problems with special characters which unfortunately can’t be solved at the moment because it’s a php problem (see this discussion).

Problem:
If special characters in filenames you have uploaded to ownCloud (be it via the client or via the web interface) don’t show up properly (e.g. that a special character at the beginning just disappears in the web interface), try this:

Solution:
Check the locale installed:

locale -a

If “en_US.UTF-8” is not on the list shown as output of this command, run one of these command to install it:
For Debian:

dpkg-reconfigure locales

For Ubuntu:

locale-gen en_US.UTF-8

See also this thread: http://forum.owncloud.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8004.

In case you are using PHP via FastCGI, be sure to check this thread: https://forum.owncloud.org/viewtopic.php?p=63964#p63964