diff --git a/SdlXliff Compare/Sdl.Community.XliffCompare.Core/Comparer/TextComparer/TextComparer.cs b/SdlXliff Compare/Sdl.Community.XliffCompare.Core/Comparer/TextComparer/TextComparer.cs
index 766505cbef..942525c2c7 100644
--- a/SdlXliff Compare/Sdl.Community.XliffCompare.Core/Comparer/TextComparer/TextComparer.cs	
+++ b/SdlXliff Compare/Sdl.Community.XliffCompare.Core/Comparer/TextComparer/TextComparer.cs	
@@ -329,50 +329,65 @@ internal static WordsCollection Parse(List<SDLXLIFF.SegmentSection> xSegmentSect
                     else
                     {
 
-                        while (curPos < xSegmentSection.Content.Length)
-                        {
-                            var prevPos = curPos;
-                            while (curPos < xSegmentSection.Content.Length &&
-                               (char.IsControl(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos])
-                               || char.IsWhiteSpace(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos])))
-                            {
-                                curPos++;
-                            }
-                            prefix += xSegmentSection.Content.Substring(prevPos, curPos - prevPos);
-
-                            if (curPos == xSegmentSection.Content.Length)
-                            {
-
-                                if (prefix != string.Empty)
-                                {
-                                    words.Add(new Word(string.Empty, prefix, string.Empty));
-                                }
-                                break;
-                            }
-
-                            prevPos = curPos;
-                            while (curPos < xSegmentSection.Content.Length &&
-                                !char.IsControl(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos]) &&
-                                !char.IsWhiteSpace(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos]))
-                            {
-                                curPos++;
-                            }
-                            var word = xSegmentSection.Content.Substring(prevPos, curPos - prevPos);
-
-
-                            prevPos = curPos;
-                            while (curPos < xSegmentSection.Content.Length &&
-                                (char.IsControl(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos]) ||
-                                char.IsWhiteSpace(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos])))
-                            {
-                                curPos++;
-                            }
-                            suffix = xSegmentSection.Content.Substring(prevPos, curPos - prevPos);
-                            ProcessWord(words, prefix, word, suffix);
-                            prefix = string.Empty;
-                        }
-                    }
-                }
+						while (curPos < xSegmentSection.Content.Length)
+						{
+							var prevPos = curPos;
+							while (curPos < xSegmentSection.Content.Length &&
+								xSegmentSection.Content[curPos] != '\xa0' && // stop at nbsp
+							   (char.IsControl(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos])
+							   || char.IsWhiteSpace(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos])))
+							{
+								curPos++;
+							}
+							prefix += xSegmentSection.Content.Substring(prevPos, curPos - prevPos);
+
+							if (curPos == xSegmentSection.Content.Length)
+							{
+
+								if (prefix != string.Empty)
+								{
+									words.Add(new Word(string.Empty, prefix, string.Empty));
+								}
+								break;
+							}
+
+							prevPos = curPos;
+
+							if (xSegmentSection.Content[curPos] == '\xa0') // make nbsp a word
+							{
+								// a word may be a string of non-breaking spaces ...
+								while (xSegmentSection.Content[curPos] == '\xa0')
+								{
+									curPos++;
+								}
+							}
+							else
+							{
+								// ... or a string of non-whitespace/non-control
+								while (curPos < xSegmentSection.Content.Length &&
+									!char.IsControl(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos]) &&
+									!char.IsWhiteSpace(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos]))
+								{
+									curPos++;
+								}
+							}
+							var word = xSegmentSection.Content.Substring(prevPos, curPos - prevPos);
+
+
+							prevPos = curPos;
+							while (curPos < xSegmentSection.Content.Length &&
+								xSegmentSection.Content[curPos] != '\xa0' && // stop at nbsp
+								(char.IsControl(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos]) ||
+								char.IsWhiteSpace(xSegmentSection.Content[curPos])))
+							{
+								curPos++;
+							}
+							suffix = xSegmentSection.Content.Substring(prevPos, curPos - prevPos);
+							ProcessWord(words, prefix, word, suffix);
+							prefix = string.Empty;
+						}
+					}
+				}
                 return words;
             }
 
diff --git a/StudioViews/StudioViews/Services/ProjectFileService.cs b/StudioViews/StudioViews/Services/ProjectFileService.cs
index 839db32ab5..0caf9f1d13 100644
--- a/StudioViews/StudioViews/Services/ProjectFileService.cs
+++ b/StudioViews/StudioViews/Services/ProjectFileService.cs
@@ -242,7 +242,16 @@ public List<ProjectFileInfo> GetProjectFiles(string filePath)
 
 			try
 			{
-				var xml = XDocument.Load(filePath, LoadOptions.PreserveWhitespace);
+				//var xml = XDocument.Load(filePath, LoadOptions.PreserveWhitespace);
+				XDocument xml = null;
+				// avoid System.Xml.XmlException Message: '?', hexadecimal value 0x1C, 0x1E, ... is an invalid character.
+				XmlReaderSettings xmlReaderSettings = new XmlReaderSettings { CheckCharacters = false };
+				using (XmlReader xmlReader = XmlReader.Create(filePath, xmlReaderSettings))
+				{
+					xmlReader.MoveToContent();
+					xml = XDocument.Load(xmlReader, LoadOptions.PreserveWhitespace);
+				}
+				
 				var xliff = xml.Root;
 				if (xliff != null &&
 					string.Compare(xliff.Name.LocalName, "xliff", StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase) == 0)
diff --git a/StudioViews/StudioViews/ViewModel/StudioViewsEditorViewModel.cs b/StudioViews/StudioViews/ViewModel/StudioViewsEditorViewModel.cs
index b70f70ed1f..3b3e73c426 100644
--- a/StudioViews/StudioViews/ViewModel/StudioViewsEditorViewModel.cs
+++ b/StudioViews/StudioViews/ViewModel/StudioViewsEditorViewModel.cs
@@ -835,8 +835,9 @@ private ExportResult ExportFiles(IReadOnlyCollection<ProjectFile> projectFiles,
 				InputFiles = new List<string>(projectFiles.Select(a => a.LocalFilePath))
 			};
 
-			var sourceLanguage = projectFiles.FirstOrDefault()?.SourceFile.Language.CultureInfo;
-			var targetLanguage = projectFiles.FirstOrDefault()?.Language.CultureInfo;
+			// UNNECESSARY AND POSSIBLY A SOURCE FOR ERROR: SourceFile might be null in a WorldServer project
+			//var sourceLanguage = projectFiles.FirstOrDefault()?.SourceFile.Language.CultureInfo;
+			//var targetLanguage = projectFiles.FirstOrDefault()?.Language.CultureInfo;
 
 			foreach (var documentFile in projectFiles)
 			{