```{index} single: native_utf8_on; Encode function ``` ```{index} single: Encode::native_utf8_on; Perl function ``` # native_utf8_on Force `SVf_UTF8` on in place, without touching the underlying bytes. Returns the previous flag state as a boolean. Use this only when you know the bytes really are well-formed UTF-8 — flipping the flag on garbage produces mojibake that will surface later as double-encoding or Wide character warnings. The leading underscore in the name is a warning: this is an internals-poking operation, not part of the everyday API.