diff --git a/gptdeploy.py b/gptdeploy.py
index 870e445..47b20ef 100644
--- a/gptdeploy.py
+++ b/gptdeploy.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-from src import env  # noqa: F401 to make sure certain environment variables are set
 from src import main
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/src/apis/jina_cloud.py b/src/apis/jina_cloud.py
index 5d5de62..aabd60e 100644
--- a/src/apis/jina_cloud.py
+++ b/src/apis/jina_cloud.py
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ executors:
 '''
     full_flow_path = os.path.join(dest_folder,
                                   'flow.yml')
-    with open(full_flow_path, 'w') as f:
+    with open(full_flow_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
         f.write(flow)
     return full_flow_path
 
@@ -264,12 +264,12 @@ def replace_client_line(file_content: str, replacement: str) -> str:
 
 
 def update_client_line_in_file(file_path, host):
-    with open(file_path, 'r') as file:
+    with open(file_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as file:
         content = file.read()
 
     replaced_content = replace_client_line(content, f"client = Client(host='{host}')")
 
-    with open(file_path, 'w') as file:
+    with open(file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as file:
         file.write(replaced_content)
 
 
diff --git a/src/cli.py b/src/cli.py
index 40ef4ef..13ecd75 100644
--- a/src/cli.py
+++ b/src/cli.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from src import env  # noqa: F401 to make sure certain environment variables are set
 import functools
 import os
 
diff --git a/src/env.py b/src/env.py
index 5acd11d..852ae97 100644
--- a/src/env.py
+++ b/src/env.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 import os
 
-os.environ['PYTHONIOENCODING']='utf-8'
\ No newline at end of file
+os.environ['PYTHONIOENCODING'] = 'utf-8'
+os.environ['PYTHONLEGACYWINDOWSSTDIO'] = 'utf-8'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/options/configure/key_handling.py b/src/options/configure/key_handling.py
index 53ae19a..a2f8576 100644
--- a/src/options/configure/key_handling.py
+++ b/src/options/configure/key_handling.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def set_env_variable(shell, key):
     config_file = os.path.expanduser(shell_config[shell]["config_file"])
 
     try:
-        with open(config_file, "r") as file:
+        with open(config_file, "r", encoding='utf-8') as file:
             content = file.read()
 
         export_line = shell_config[shell]['export_line']
@@ -74,10 +74,10 @@ def set_env_variable(shell, key):
         if f"OPENAI_API_KEY" in content:
             content = re.sub(r'OPENAI_API_KEY=.*', f'OPENAI_API_KEY={key}', content, flags=re.MULTILINE)
 
-            with open(config_file, "w") as file:
+            with open(config_file, "w", encoding='utf-8') as file:
                 file.write(content)
         else:
-            with open(config_file, "a") as file:
+            with open(config_file, "a", encoding='utf-8') as file:
                 file.write(f"\n{export_line}\n")
 
         click.echo(f'''
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ def is_key_set_in_config_file(key):
     config_file = os.path.expanduser(shell_config[shell]["config_file"])
 
     try:
-        with open(config_file, "r") as file:
+        with open(config_file, "r", encoding='utf-8') as file:
             content = file.read()
             if f"OPENAI_API_KEY" in content:
                 return True
diff --git a/src/options/generate/generator.py b/src/options/generate/generator.py
index e071164..e7d5489 100644
--- a/src/options/generate/generator.py
+++ b/src/options/generate/generator.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ py_modules:
 metas:
   name: {class_name}
 '''
-        with open(os.path.join(dest_folder, 'config.yml'), 'w') as f:
+        with open(os.path.join(dest_folder, 'config.yml'), 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
             f.write(config_content)
 
     def files_to_string(self, file_name_to_content, restrict_keys=None):
@@ -175,13 +175,13 @@ metas:
         # fill-in name of microservice
         gateway_name = f'Gateway{microservice_name}'
         custom_gateway_path = os.path.join(gateway_path, 'custom_gateway.py')
-        with open(custom_gateway_path, 'r') as f:
+        with open(custom_gateway_path, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
             custom_gateway_content = f.read()
         custom_gateway_content = custom_gateway_content.replace(
             'class CustomGateway(CompositeGateway):',
             f'class {gateway_name}(CompositeGateway):'
         )
-        with open(custom_gateway_path, 'w') as f:
+        with open(custom_gateway_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
             f.write(custom_gateway_content)
 
         # write config.yml
diff --git a/src/utils/io.py b/src/utils/io.py
index 8ddc02c..9ae2693 100644
--- a/src/utils/io.py
+++ b/src/utils/io.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ def get_microservice_path(path, microservice_name, packages, num_approach, versi
     return os.path.join(path, microservice_name, f'{num_approach}_{package_path}', f'v{version}')
 
 def persist_file(file_content, file_path):
-    with open(file_path, 'w') as f:
+    with open(file_path, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as f:
         f.write(file_content)