What's the best way to python read json file into dict? Need help! or How do I python read json file

Had this exact issue! For me, it was encoding. Try:

```python
with open('data.json', 'r', encoding='utf-8') as f:
data = json.load(f)
```

Some systems default to weird encodings, especially on Windows. Also, double-check the file isn’t empty—happened to me once 😅