XmlSerializer s = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyObject)); System.IO.TextWriter xw = new System.IO.StreamWriter(@"Serialized.xml", false, System.Text.Encoding.UTF8); s.Serialize(xw, myObjectInstance); xw.Close(); StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(@"Serialized.xml", true); XmlSerializer s = new XmlSerializer(typeof(MyObject)); myObjectInstance = (MyObject)(s.Deserialize(sr)); sr.Close();