I think I still suffer from this bug that might not have been solved yet: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=555693 Additionally, reading this question didn't help either (option from the solution was already set to 'false'): https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1006626 I use Thunderbird version 31.3.0 in Linux Mint 17.1. Sometimes when I save a message then the special characters (and even spaces between a smiley and text!) are replaced by weird characters like Â. I've already set the 'character encoding' for outgoing and incoming mail to Unicode UTF-8 (in: Edit > Preferences > Display > Formatting > Advanced). To be safe I also unchecked the option "When possible, use the default character encoding in replies". Why are my special characters sometimes replaced by weird ones and why do I have to spend hours correcting them in large e-mails? Sometimes more than twice for large mails (because every time I save it then the weird characters return)!