diff --git a/apps/bsatool/bsatool.cpp b/apps/bsatool/bsatool.cpp
index 0f6a7d35e7..b250cf9862 100644
--- a/apps/bsatool/bsatool.cpp
+++ b/apps/bsatool/bsatool.cpp
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ int extractAll(std::unique_ptr<File>& bsa, Arguments& info)
 
         // Get the target path (the path the file will be extracted to)
         auto target = info.outdir;
-        target /= extractPath;
+        target /= Misc::StringUtils::stringToU8String(extractPath);
 
         // Create the directory hierarchy
         std::filesystem::create_directories(target.parent_path());
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ int extractAll(std::unique_ptr<File>& bsa, Arguments& info)
         std::ofstream out(target, std::ios::binary);
 
         // Write the file to disk
-        std::cout << "Extracting " << target << std::endl;
+        std::cout << "Extracting " << Files::pathToUnicodeString(target) << std::endl;
         out << data->rdbuf();
         out.close();
     }
diff --git a/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp b/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp
index dab212c076..2e274bfe74 100644
--- a/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp
+++ b/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ void loadCell(const Arguments& info, ESM::Cell &cell, ESM::ESMReader &esm, ESMDa
 
 void printRawTes3(const std::filesystem::path &path)
 {
-    std::cout << "TES3 RAW file listing: " << path << '\n';
+    std::cout << "TES3 RAW file listing: " << Files::pathToUnicodeString(path) << '\n';
     ESM::ESMReader esm;
     esm.openRaw(path);
     while(esm.hasMoreRecs())
diff --git a/apps/essimporter/importer.cpp b/apps/essimporter/importer.cpp
index fbb333740b..5bc8079bd1 100644
--- a/apps/essimporter/importer.cpp
+++ b/apps/essimporter/importer.cpp
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ namespace ESSImport
 
         writer.setFormat (ESM::SavedGame::sCurrentFormat);
 
-        std::ofstream stream(std::filesystem::path(mOutFile), std::ios::out | std::ios::binary);
+        std::ofstream stream(mOutFile, std::ios::out | std::ios::binary);
         // all unused
         writer.setVersion(0);
         writer.setType(0);
diff --git a/apps/launcher/datafilespage.cpp b/apps/launcher/datafilespage.cpp
index 3495d04502..7d00c05bba 100644
--- a/apps/launcher/datafilespage.cpp
+++ b/apps/launcher/datafilespage.cpp
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ void Launcher::DataFilesPage::populateFileViews(const QString& contentModelName)
 
     const auto& globalDataDir = mGameSettings.getGlobalDataDir();
     if (!globalDataDir.empty())
-        directories.insert(0, QString::fromStdWString(globalDataDir.wstring()));
+        directories.insert(0, QString::fromStdU32String(globalDataDir.u32string()));
 
     // normalize user supplied directories: resolve symlink, convert to native separator, make absolute
     for (auto& currentDir : directories)
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ void Launcher::DataFilesPage::populateFileViews(const QString& contentModelName)
         }
 
         // deactivate data-local and global data directory: they are always included
-        if (currentDir == mDataLocal || std::filesystem::path(currentDir.toStdWString()) == globalDataDir)
+        if (currentDir == mDataLocal || std::filesystem::path(currentDir.toStdU32String()) == globalDataDir)
         {
             auto flags = item->flags();
             item->setFlags(flags & ~(Qt::ItemIsDragEnabled|Qt::ItemIsDropEnabled|Qt::ItemIsEnabled));
diff --git a/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp b/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
index 7b5fbe5c4c..830a80d01d 100644
--- a/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
+++ b/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ Launcher::FirstRunDialogResult Launcher::MainDialog::showFirstRunDialog()
             cfgError(tr("Error opening OpenMW configuration file"),
                      tr("<br><b>Could not create directory %0</b><br><br> \
                         Please make sure you have the right permissions \
-                        and try again.<br>").arg(QString::fromStdWString(canonical(userConfigDir).wstring()))
+                        and try again.<br>").arg(QString::fromStdU32String(canonical(userConfigDir).u32string()))
             );
             return FirstRunDialogResultFailure;
         }
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::setupLauncherSettings()
 
     mLauncherSettings.setMultiValueEnabled(true);
 
-    QString userPath = QString::fromStdWString(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().wstring());
+    QString userPath = QString::fromStdU32String(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().u32string());
 
     QStringList paths;
     paths.append(QString(Config::LauncherSettings::sLauncherConfigFileName));
@@ -329,9 +329,9 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::setupGameSettings()
 {
     mGameSettings.clear();
 
-    QString localPath = QString::fromStdWString(mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().wstring());
-    QString userPath = QString::fromStdWString(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().wstring());
-    QString globalPath = QString::fromStdWString(mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().wstring());
+    QString localPath = QString::fromStdU32String(mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().u32string());
+    QString userPath = QString::fromStdU32String(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().u32string());
+    QString globalPath = QString::fromStdU32String(mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().u32string());
 
     QFile file;
 
@@ -487,13 +487,13 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::writeSettings()
             cfgError(tr("Error creating OpenMW configuration directory"),
                      tr("<br><b>Could not create %0</b><br><br> \
                          Please make sure you have the right permissions \
-                         and try again.<br>").arg(QString::fromStdWString(userPath.wstring())));
+                         and try again.<br>").arg(QString::fromStdU32String(userPath.u32string())));
             return false;
         }
     }
 
     // Game settings
-    QFile file(QString::fromStdWString((userPath / "openmw.cfg").wstring()));
+    QFile file(QString::fromStdU32String((userPath / "openmw.cfg").u32string()));
 
     if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadWrite | QIODevice::Text)) {
         // File cannot be opened or created
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::writeSettings()
     }
 
     // Launcher settings
-    file.setFileName(QString::fromStdWString((userPath / Config::LauncherSettings::sLauncherConfigFileName).wstring()));
+    file.setFileName(QString::fromStdU32String((userPath / Config::LauncherSettings::sLauncherConfigFileName).u32string()));
 
     if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadWrite | QIODevice::Text | QIODevice::Truncate)) {
         // File cannot be opened or created
diff --git a/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp b/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp
index 1a9670a292..325fa4dfa1 100644
--- a/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp
+++ b/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ void Launcher::SettingsPage::on_importerButton_clicked()
     // Create the file if it doesn't already exist, else the importer will fail
     auto path = mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath();
     path /= "openmw.cfg";
-    QFile file(QString::fromStdWString(path.wstring()));
+    QFile file(QString::fromStdU32String(path.u32string()));
 
     if (!file.exists()) {
         if (!file.open(QIODevice::ReadWrite)) {
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ void Launcher::SettingsPage::on_importerButton_clicked()
     arguments.append(QString("--ini"));
     arguments.append(settingsComboBox->currentText());
     arguments.append(QString("--cfg"));
-    arguments.append(QString::fromStdWString(path.wstring()));
+    arguments.append(QString::fromStdU32String(path.u32string()));
 
     qDebug() << "arguments " << arguments;
 
diff --git a/apps/mwiniimporter/importer.cpp b/apps/mwiniimporter/importer.cpp
index ed962c4c5f..43f2b429b1 100644
--- a/apps/mwiniimporter/importer.cpp
+++ b/apps/mwiniimporter/importer.cpp
@@ -658,7 +658,7 @@ void MwIniImporter::setVerbose(bool verbose) {
 }
 
 MwIniImporter::multistrmap MwIniImporter::loadIniFile(const std::filesystem::path&  filename) const {
-    std::cout << "load ini file: " << filename << std::endl;
+    std::cout << "load ini file: " << Files::pathToUnicodeString(filename) << std::endl;
 
     std::string section("");
     MwIniImporter::multistrmap map;
@@ -719,7 +719,7 @@ MwIniImporter::multistrmap MwIniImporter::loadIniFile(const std::filesystem::pat
 }
 
 MwIniImporter::multistrmap MwIniImporter::loadCfgFile(const std::filesystem::path& filename) {
-    std::cout << "load cfg file: " << filename << std::endl;
+    std::cout << "load cfg file: " << Files::pathToUnicodeString(filename) << std::endl;
 
     MwIniImporter::multistrmap map;
     std::ifstream file(filename);
@@ -872,7 +872,7 @@ void MwIniImporter::addPaths(std::vector<std::filesystem::path>& output, std::ve
             // Drop first and last characters - quotation marks
             path = path.substr(1, path.size() - 2);
         }
-        output.emplace_back(path);
+        output.emplace_back(Files::pathFromUnicodeString(path));
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp b/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp
index 58b5a9e6c5..690afe64c8 100644
--- a/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp
+++ b/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <boost/program_options.hpp>
 
 #include <components/files/configurationmanager.hpp>
+#include <components/files/conversion.hpp>
 
 namespace bpo = boost::program_options;
 namespace sfs = std::filesystem;
@@ -137,7 +138,7 @@ int wmain(int argc, wchar_t *wargv[]) {
             importer.importArchives(cfg, ini);
         }
 
-        std::cout << "write to: " << outputFile << std::endl;
+        std::cout << "write to: " << Files::pathToUnicodeString(outputFile) << std::endl;
         std::ofstream file(outputFile);
         importer.writeToFile(file, cfg);
     }
diff --git a/apps/opencs/editor.cpp b/apps/opencs/editor.cpp
index 669fa83a4c..5f165a95a4 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/editor.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/editor.cpp
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ void CS::Editor::openFiles (const std::filesystem::path &savePath, const std::ve
     if(discoveredFiles.empty())
     {
         for (const QString &path : mFileDialog.selectedFilePaths())
-            files.emplace_back(path.toUtf8().constData());
+            files.emplace_back(path.toStdU32String());
     }
     else
     {
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ void CS::Editor::createNewFile (const std::filesystem::path &savePath)
     std::vector<std::filesystem::path> files;
 
     for (const QString &path : mFileDialog.selectedFilePaths()) {
-        files.emplace_back(path.toUtf8().constData());
+        files.emplace_back(path.toStdU32String());
     }
 
     files.push_back (savePath);
@@ -377,23 +377,20 @@ int CS::Editor::run()
 
         std::vector<std::filesystem::path> discoveredFiles;
 
-        for (std::vector<ESM::Header::MasterData>::const_iterator itemIter = fileReader.getGameFiles().begin();
-            itemIter != fileReader.getGameFiles().end(); ++itemIter)
+        for (const auto& item : fileReader.getGameFiles())
         {
-            for (Files::PathContainer::const_iterator pathIter = mDataDirs.begin();
-                pathIter != mDataDirs.end(); ++pathIter)
+            for (const auto& path : mDataDirs)
             {
-                const std::filesystem::path masterPath = *pathIter / itemIter->name;
-                if (std::filesystem::exists(masterPath))
+                if (auto masterPath = path / item.name; std::filesystem::exists(masterPath))
                 {
-                    discoveredFiles.push_back(masterPath);
+                    discoveredFiles.emplace_back(std::move(masterPath));
                     break;
                 }
             }
         }
         discoveredFiles.push_back(mFileToLoad);
 
-        QString extension = QString::fromStdWString(mFileToLoad.extension().wstring()).toLower();
+        QString extension = QString::fromStdU32String(mFileToLoad.extension().u32string()).toLower();
         if (extension == ".esm")
         {
             mFileToLoad.replace_extension(".omwgame");
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/doc/runner.cpp b/apps/opencs/model/doc/runner.cpp
index 2b16ea3eff..dd99ede234 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/model/doc/runner.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/doc/runner.cpp
@@ -83,17 +83,17 @@ void CSMDoc::Runner::start (bool delayed)
         arguments << ("--script-run="+mStartup->fileName());
 
         arguments <<
-            QString::fromStdWString (L"--data=\""+mProjectPath.parent_path().wstring()+L"\"");
+            QString::fromStdU32String (U"--data=\""+mProjectPath.parent_path().u32string()+U"\"");
 
         arguments << "--replace=content";
 
         for (const auto & mContentFile : mContentFiles)
         {
-            arguments << QString::fromStdWString (L"--content="+mContentFile.wstring());
+            arguments << QString::fromStdU32String (U"--content="+mContentFile.u32string());
         }
 
         arguments
-            << QString::fromStdWString (L"--content="+mProjectPath.filename().wstring());
+            << QString::fromStdU32String (U"--content="+mProjectPath.filename().u32string());
 
         mProcess.start (path, arguments);
     }
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/prefs/state.cpp b/apps/opencs/model/prefs/state.cpp
index ae2c94b11a..e5a1ef71a5 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/model/prefs/state.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/prefs/state.cpp
@@ -648,8 +648,7 @@ CSMPrefs::State::~State()
 
 void CSMPrefs::State::save()
 {
-    std::filesystem::path user = mConfigurationManager.getUserConfigPath() / mConfigFile;
-    Settings::Manager::saveUser (user);
+    Settings::Manager::saveUser (mConfigurationManager.getUserConfigPath() / mConfigFile);
 }
 
 CSMPrefs::State::Iterator CSMPrefs::State::begin()
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/doc/adjusterwidget.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/doc/adjusterwidget.cpp
index 6eb479d694..791a1c556d 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/doc/adjusterwidget.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/doc/adjusterwidget.cpp
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ void CSVDoc::AdjusterWidget::setName (const QString& name, bool addon)
     }
     else
     {
-        std::filesystem::path path (name.toStdWString());
+        std::filesystem::path path (name.toStdU32String());
 
         const auto extension = Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(path.extension().u8string());
 
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ void CSVDoc::AdjusterWidget::setName (const QString& name, bool addon)
         if (!isFilePathChanged && !isLegacyPath)
         {
             // path already points to the local data directory
-            message = QString::fromStdWString (L"Will be saved as: " + path.wstring());
+            message = QString::fromStdU32String (U"Will be saved as: " + path.u32string());
             mResultPath = path;
         }
         //in all other cases, ensure the path points to data-local and do an existing file check
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ void CSVDoc::AdjusterWidget::setName (const QString& name, bool addon)
             if (isFilePathChanged)
                 path = mLocalData / path.filename();
 
-            message = QString::fromStdWString (L"Will be saved as: " + path.wstring());
+            message = QString::fromStdU32String (U"Will be saved as: " + path.u32string());
             mResultPath = path;
 
             if (std::filesystem::exists (path))
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/doc/loader.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/doc/loader.cpp
index ffd1d66756..4e8eab0541 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/doc/loader.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/doc/loader.cpp
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ void CSVDoc::LoadingDocument::closeEvent (QCloseEvent *event)
 CSVDoc::LoadingDocument::LoadingDocument (CSMDoc::Document *document)
 : mDocument (document), mTotalRecordsLabel (0), mRecordsLabel (0), mAborted (false), mMessages (nullptr), mRecords(0)
 {
-    setWindowTitle (QString::fromStdWString(L"Opening " + document->getSavePath().filename().wstring()));
+    setWindowTitle (QString::fromStdU32String(U"Opening " + document->getSavePath().filename().u32string()));
 
     setMinimumWidth (400);
 
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/doc/viewmanager.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/doc/viewmanager.cpp
index 71e8987bb1..358bc05e8b 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/doc/viewmanager.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/doc/viewmanager.cpp
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ bool CSVDoc::ViewManager::showModifiedDocumentMessageBox (CSVDoc::View *view)
     QMessageBox messageBox(view);
     CSMDoc::Document *document = view->getDocument();
 
-    messageBox.setWindowTitle (QString::fromStdWString(document->getSavePath().filename().wstring()));
+    messageBox.setWindowTitle (QString::fromStdU32String(document->getSavePath().filename().u32string()));
     messageBox.setText ("The document has been modified.");
     messageBox.setInformativeText ("Do you want to save your changes?");
     messageBox.setStandardButtons (QMessageBox::Save | QMessageBox::Discard | QMessageBox::Cancel);
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/tools/merge.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/tools/merge.cpp
index 6c4d076849..8e78364cea 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/tools/merge.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/tools/merge.cpp
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ void CSVTools::Merge::configure (CSMDoc::Document *document)
 
     for (std::vector<std::filesystem::path>::const_iterator iter (files.begin());
         iter!=files.end(); ++iter)
-        mFiles->addItem (QString::fromStdWString(iter->filename().wstring()));
+        mFiles->addItem (QString::fromStdU32String(iter->filename().u32string()));
 }
 
 void CSVTools::Merge::setLocalData (const std::filesystem::path& localData)
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/savegamedialog.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/savegamedialog.cpp
index ebf22b5c83..5149552ea9 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/savegamedialog.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/savegamedialog.cpp
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ namespace MWGui
         const std::vector<char>& data = mCurrentSlot->mProfile.mScreenshot;
         if (!data.size())
         {
-            Log(Debug::Warning) << "Selected save file '" << mCurrentSlot->mPath.filename().string() << "' has no savegame screenshot";
+            Log(Debug::Warning) << "Selected save file '" << Files::pathToUnicodeString(mCurrentSlot->mPath.filename()) << "' has no savegame screenshot";
             return;
         }
 
diff --git a/apps/wizard/mainwizard.cpp b/apps/wizard/mainwizard.cpp
index 759fe7edd7..aa25f1fd3e 100644
--- a/apps/wizard/mainwizard.cpp
+++ b/apps/wizard/mainwizard.cpp
@@ -471,5 +471,5 @@ bool Wizard::MainWizard::findFiles(const QString &name, const QString &path)
 
 QString Wizard::MainWizard::toQString(const std::filesystem::path& path)
 {
-    return QString::fromStdWString(path.wstring());
+    return QString::fromStdU32String(path.u32string());
 }
diff --git a/components/config/gamesettings.cpp b/components/config/gamesettings.cpp
index e99e31372a..36f0cdad08 100644
--- a/components/config/gamesettings.cpp
+++ b/components/config/gamesettings.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include <QTextCodec>
 #include <QDir>
 #include <QRegExp>
+#include <QDebug>
 
 #include <components/files/configurationmanager.hpp>
 
@@ -23,8 +24,7 @@ void Config::GameSettings::validatePaths()
 
     for (const QString &path : paths)
     {
-        QByteArray bytes = path.toUtf8();
-        dataDirs.push_back(Files::PathContainer::value_type(std::string(bytes.constData(), bytes.length())));
+        dataDirs.emplace_back(path.toStdU32String());
     }
 
     // Parse the data dirs to convert the tokenized paths
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ void Config::GameSettings::validatePaths()
     mDataDirs.clear();
 
     for (auto & dataDir : dataDirs) {
-        QString path = QString::fromStdWString(dataDir.wstring());
+        QString path = QString::fromStdU32String(dataDir.u32string());
 
         QDir dir(path);
         if (dir.exists())
@@ -51,13 +51,12 @@ void Config::GameSettings::validatePaths()
         return;
 
     dataDirs.clear();
-    QByteArray bytes = local.toUtf8();
-    dataDirs.push_back(Files::PathContainer::value_type(std::string(bytes.constData(), bytes.length())));
+    dataDirs.emplace_back(local.toStdU32String());
 
     mCfgMgr.processPaths(dataDirs, /*basePath=*/"");
 
     if (!dataDirs.empty()) {
-        QString path = QString::fromStdWString(dataDirs.front().wstring());
+        QString path = QString::fromStdU32String(dataDirs.front().u32string());
 
         QDir dir(path);
         if (dir.exists())
@@ -68,8 +67,9 @@ void Config::GameSettings::validatePaths()
 std::filesystem::path Config::GameSettings::getGlobalDataDir() const
 {
     // global data dir may not exists if OpenMW is not installed (ie if run from build directory)
-    if (std::filesystem::exists(mCfgMgr.getGlobalDataPath()))
-        return std::filesystem::canonical(mCfgMgr.getGlobalDataPath());
+    const auto& path = mCfgMgr.getGlobalDataPath();
+    if (std::filesystem::exists(path))
+        return std::filesystem::canonical(path);
     return {};
 }
 
diff --git a/components/config/launchersettings.cpp b/components/config/launchersettings.cpp
index 2932a211cf..b06203c2a2 100644
--- a/components/config/launchersettings.cpp
+++ b/components/config/launchersettings.cpp
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ void Config::LauncherSettings::setContentList(const GameSettings& gameSettings)
     }
 
     // global and local data directories are not part of any profile
-    const auto globalDataDir = QString::fromStdWString(gameSettings.getGlobalDataDir().wstring());
+    const auto globalDataDir = QString::fromStdU32String(gameSettings.getGlobalDataDir().u32string());
     const auto dataLocal = gameSettings.getDataLocal();
     dirs.removeAll(globalDataDir);
     dirs.removeAll(dataLocal);
diff --git a/components/files/configurationmanager.cpp b/components/files/configurationmanager.cpp
index fdd955207f..550bb3eb1c 100644
--- a/components/files/configurationmanager.cpp
+++ b/components/files/configurationmanager.cpp
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ void ConfigurationManager::readConfiguration(bpo::variables_map& variables,
 
     while (!extraConfigDirs.empty())
     {
-        std::filesystem::path path = extraConfigDirs.top();
+        auto path = extraConfigDirs.top();
         extraConfigDirs.pop();
         if (alreadyParsedPaths.count(path) > 0)
         {
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ void ConfigurationManager::readConfiguration(bpo::variables_map& variables,
             Log(Debug::Info) << "Skipping previous configs except " << (mActiveConfigPaths.front() / "openmw.cfg") <<
                 " due to replace=config in " << (path / "openmw.cfg");
         }
-        mActiveConfigPaths.push_back(path);
+        mActiveConfigPaths.emplace_back(std::move(path));
         if (config)
         {
             addExtraConfigDirs(extraConfigDirs, *config);
diff --git a/components/settings/parser.cpp b/components/settings/parser.cpp
index 1c1eeccc90..3232855989 100644
--- a/components/settings/parser.cpp
+++ b/components/settings/parser.cpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 #include <components/debug/debuglog.hpp>
 #include <components/misc/strings/algorithm.hpp>
+#include <components/files/conversion.hpp>
 
 #include <fstream>
 #include <filesystem>
@@ -324,6 +325,6 @@ bool Settings::SettingsFileParser::skipWhiteSpace(size_t& i, std::string& str)
 [[noreturn]] void Settings::SettingsFileParser::fail(const std::string& message)
 {
     std::stringstream error;
-    error << "Error on line " << mLine << " in " << mFile << ":\n" << message;
+    error << "Error on line " << mLine << " in " << Files::pathToUnicodeString(mFile) << ":\n" << message;
     throw std::runtime_error(error.str());
 }
diff --git a/components/shader/shadermanager.cpp b/components/shader/shadermanager.cpp
index 189881fe97..80652eb499 100644
--- a/components/shader/shadermanager.cpp
+++ b/components/shader/shadermanager.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include <components/misc/strings/algorithm.hpp>
 #include <components/misc/strings/format.hpp>
 #include <components/settings/settings.hpp>
+#include <components/files/conversion.hpp>
 
 namespace Shader
 {
@@ -384,7 +385,7 @@ namespace Shader
             const std::set<std::filesystem::path>& shaderFiles = templateIncludedFiles[templateName];
             for (const std::filesystem::path& file : shaderFiles)
             {
-                mShaderFiles[file.string()].insert(std::make_pair(templateName, defines));
+                mShaderFiles[Files::pathToUnicodeString(file)].insert(std::make_pair(templateName, defines));
             }
         }
 
@@ -426,7 +427,7 @@ namespace Shader
                         stream.open(path);
                         if (stream.fail())
                         {
-                            Log(Debug::Error) << "Failed to open " << path.string();
+                            Log(Debug::Error) << "Failed to open " << Files::pathToUnicodeString(path);
                         }
                         std::stringstream buffer;
                         buffer << stream.rdbuf();