Skip to page contentSkip to chat
ServiceNow support
    • Community
      Ask questions, give advice, and connect with fellow ServiceNow professionals.
      Developer
      Build, test, and deploy applications
      Documentation
      Find detailed information about ServiceNow products, apps, features, and releases.
      Impact
      Accelerate ROI and amplify your expertise.
      Learning
      Build skills with instructor-led and online training.
      Partner
      Grow your business with promotions, news, and marketing tools
      ServiceNow
      Learn about ServiceNow products & solutions.
      Store
      Download certified apps and integrations that complement ServiceNow.
      Support
      Manage your instances, access self-help, and get technical support.
Zero width space (​) in inbound email gets translated to question mark - Known Error
  • >
  • Knowledge Base
  • >
  • Known Error (Knowledge Base)
  • >
  • Zero width space (​) in inbound email gets translated to question mark
KB0820011

Zero width space (​) in inbound email gets translated to question mark


2304 Views Last updated : Apr 8, 2024 public Copy Permalink
KB Summary by Now Assist

Description

Zero width space (​) in inbound email gets translated to question mark
We are seeing situations where certain versions of Microsoft Outlook insert "​" at the beginning of emails. This is the Unicode Character for ZERO WIDTH SPACE. ServiceNow is translating this character into a question mark which appears at the beginning of the comment.

Steps to Reproduce

1) Log into a madrid patch 10 instance or any other instance's version which suspicions of be facing this issue.
2) Create an email to the instance with the purpose of creating a new incident.

3) Ensure  you include this string "​" in the body
4) Inspect the content of the email body and the ticket  created and its comment:


ISSUE: You can notice "​" is being translated into a question mark:
=============================

EG:

email Body:
<p>&#8203; line one.<br>
</p>
<p>line two.<br>
</p>

Incident update to:

?This is line one.
This is line two.
=================================

Workaround

  1. To contact microsoft support and ask them how to avoid this translation, or how to sent the email as text/html only, so we will do the translation instead, or
  2. To modify your inbound actions and use the HTML body instead. e.g. "" + email.body + "". Please fully test on development before making changes on production
  3. To educate your users that outlook is adding a question mark when a space is left before some strings.

Related Problem: PRB1394500

The world works with ServiceNow.

Sign in for more! There's more content available only to authenticated users Sign in for more!
Did this KB article help you?
Did this KB article help you?

How would you rate your Now Support digital experience?

*

Very unsatisfied

Unsatisfied

Neutral

Satisfied

Very satisfied

Very unsatisfied

Unsatisfied

Neutral

Satisfied

Very satisfied

What can we improve? Please select all that apply.

What are we doing well? Please select all that apply.

Tell us more

*

Do you expect a response from this feedback?

  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy statement
  • GDPR
  • Cookie policy
  • © 2025 ServiceNow. All rights reserved.