### 10.9.2 The utf8mb3 Character Set (3-Byte UTF-8 Unicode Encoding)

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 The `utf8mb3` character set has these characteristics:

* Supports BMP characters only (no support for supplementary characters)

* Requires a maximum of three bytes per multibyte character.

 Applications that use UTF-8 data but require supplementary character support should use `utf8mb4` rather than `utf8mb3` (see [Section 10.9.1, “The utf8mb4 Character Set (4-Byte UTF-8 Unicode Encoding)”](charset-unicode-utf8mb4.html)).

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 Exactly the same set of characters is available in `utf8mb3` and `ucs2`. That is, they have the same [repertoire](glossary.html#glos_repertoire).

Note

 Historically, MySQL has used `utf8` as an alias for `utf8mb3`; beginning with MySQL 8.0.28, `utf8mb3` is used exclusively in the output of `SHOW` statements and in Information Schema tables when this character set is meant.

 At some point in the future `utf8` is expected to become a reference to `utf8mb4`. To avoid ambiguity about the meaning of `utf8`, consider specifying `utf8mb4` explicitly for character set references instead of `utf8`.

 You should also be aware that the `utf8mb3` character set is deprecated and you should expect it to be removed in a future MySQL release. Please use `utf8mb4` instead.

`utf8mb3` can be used in `CHARACTER SET` clauses, and `utf8mb3_*`collation_substring`*` in `COLLATE` clauses, where *`collation_substring`* is `bin`, `czech_ci`, `danish_ci`, `esperanto_ci`, `estonian_ci`, and so forth. For example:

```
CREATE TABLE t (s1 CHAR(1) CHARACTER SET utf8mb3;
SELECT * FROM t WHERE s1 COLLATE utf8mb3_general_ci = 'x';
DECLARE x VARCHAR(5) CHARACTER SET utf8mb3 COLLATE utf8mb3_danish_ci;
SELECT CAST('a' AS CHAR CHARACTER SET utf8) COLLATE utf8_czech_ci;
```

 MySQL immediately converts instances of `utf8mb3` in statements to `utf8`, so in statements such as `SHOW CREATE TABLE` or `SELECT CHARACTER_SET_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS` or `SELECT COLLATION_NAME FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS`, users see the name `utf8` or `utf8_*`collation_substring`*`.

`utf8mb3` is also valid in contexts other than `CHARACTER SET` clauses. For example:

```
mysqld --character-set-server=utf8mb3
```

```
SET NAMES 'utf8mb3'; /* and other SET statements that have similar effect */
SELECT _utf8mb3 'a';
```

 For information about data type storage as it relates to multibyte character sets, see [String Type Storage Requirements](storage-requirements.html#data-types-storage-reqs-strings).

