# ToString()

> Returns the contents of the TextAsset as a read-only string.

## Definition

* **Type:** Method
* **Namespace:** [UnityEngine](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine.md)
* **Assembly:** UnityEngine.CoreModule

```csharp
public override string ToString()
```

### Returns

| Type                                                           | Description                                           |
| -------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
| [string](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/system.string) | The contents of the text asset as a read-only string. |

### Remarks

Encodings are detected and interpreted automatically. Supported encodings are:

* UTF-32 big-endian or little-endian with a byte order mark.
* UTF-16 big-endian or little-endian with a byte order mark.
* UTF-8 with a byte order mark.
* UTF-8 without a byte order mark. This encoding is used as a fallback, if the above encodings can't decode the file without missing characters.

To use a specific encoding to decode a file, use [TextAsset.bytes](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/textasset/bytes.md) and C# encoding classes.

```csharp
using UnityEngine;

public class ToStringExample : MonoBehaviour
{
    // Drag a .txt file onto this field and its contents log as a string.
    public TextAsset textFile;

    void Start()
    {
        Debug.Log("Text file converted to string: " + textFile.ToString());
    }
}
```

Additional Resources: [TextAsset.bytes](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/textasset/bytes.md), [TextAsset.GetData](/engine/6000.3/script-reference/unityengine/textasset/getdata.md), [Text Assets](/engine/6000.3/manual/assets-and-media/asset-types/class-text-asset.md).