diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 6701efcfc..ac734f113 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [8.0.0-alpha-011] - 2026-04-15
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Unicode strings with combining characters caused incorrect column tracking, leading to wrong indentation decisions. [#2945](https://github.com/fsprojects/fantomas/issues/2945)
+
 ## [8.0.0-alpha-010] - 2026-04-15
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/src/Fantomas.Core.Tests/StringTests.fs b/src/Fantomas.Core.Tests/StringTests.fs
index 239013c5c..10e657245 100644
--- a/src/Fantomas.Core.Tests/StringTests.fs
+++ b/src/Fantomas.Core.Tests/StringTests.fs
@@ -339,3 +339,10 @@ let ``unicode null character should be recognized as a trivia item, 2050`` () =
 [<Test>]
 let ``character quotes should be preserved, 3076`` () =
     formatAST false "let s = 'A'" config |> should equal "let s = 'A'\n"
+
+[<Test>]
+let ``string with Unicode combining characters should not affect formatting decisions, 2945`` () =
+    // Combining characters (e.g. U+036E, U+0312, U+036B) have no visual width of their own.
+    // Column tracking must use grapheme clusters, not UTF-16 code units.
+    formatSourceString "let x = \"Zal\u036e\u0312\u036bgo\"" config
+    |> should equal "let x = \"Zal\u036e\u0312\u036bgo\"\n"
diff --git a/src/Fantomas.Core.Tests/UtilsTests.fs b/src/Fantomas.Core.Tests/UtilsTests.fs
index 47c296822..98867458c 100644
--- a/src/Fantomas.Core.Tests/UtilsTests.fs
+++ b/src/Fantomas.Core.Tests/UtilsTests.fs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 module Fantomas.Core.Tests.UtilsTests
 
 open NUnit.Framework
+open FsUnit
 open Fantomas.Core
 open FsCheck
 
@@ -49,3 +50,17 @@ let ``when predicate returns true until certain index`` () =
         }
 
     property |> Prop.forAll (Arb.fromGen gen) |> Check.QuickThrowOnFailure
+
+[<Test>]
+let ``String.visualWidth counts grapheme clusters not UTF-16 code units, 2945`` () =
+    // ASCII: visual width equals String.length
+    String.visualWidth "hello" |> should equal 5
+    // Combining characters attach to the preceding base character with no visual advance.
+    // U+036E, U+0312, U+036B are all combining marks.
+    // "l" + 3 combining marks = 1 grapheme cluster
+    let combining = "l\u036e\u0312\u036b"
+    String.visualWidth combining |> should equal 1
+    // String.length counts UTF-16 code units, not grapheme clusters
+    String.length combining |> should equal 4
+    // Empty string
+    String.visualWidth "" |> should equal 0
diff --git a/src/Fantomas.Core/Context.fs b/src/Fantomas.Core/Context.fs
index 75111eade..f42700341 100644
--- a/src/Fantomas.Core/Context.fs
+++ b/src/Fantomas.Core/Context.fs
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ module WriterModel =
             | Write s
             | WriteTrivia s ->
                 { m with
-                    Column = m.Column + (String.length s) }
+                    Column = m.Column + (String.visualWidth s) }
             | WriteBeforeNewline s -> { m with WriteBeforeNewline = s }
             | IndentBy x ->
                 { m with
diff --git a/src/Fantomas.Core/Utils.fs b/src/Fantomas.Core/Utils.fs
index 9e17f4dd7..911c58f05 100644
--- a/src/Fantomas.Core/Utils.fs
+++ b/src/Fantomas.Core/Utils.fs
@@ -16,6 +16,22 @@ module String =
     let isNotNullOrEmpty = String.IsNullOrEmpty >> not
     let isNotNullOrWhitespace = String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace >> not
 
+    let visualWidth (s: string) =
+        // Fast path: most F# source tokens are pure ASCII, avoid allocating StringInfo.
+        let mutable hasNonAscii = false
+        let mutable i = 0
+
+        while not hasNonAscii && i < s.Length do
+            if s.[i] > '\u007F' then
+                hasNonAscii <- true
+
+            i <- i + 1
+
+        if hasNonAscii then
+            Globalization.StringInfo(s).LengthInTextElements
+        else
+            s.Length
+
 module List =
     let chooseState f state l =
         let mutable s = state
diff --git a/src/Fantomas.Core/Utils.fsi b/src/Fantomas.Core/Utils.fsi
index 1bf4d55ff..bacab8ec1 100644
--- a/src/Fantomas.Core/Utils.fsi
+++ b/src/Fantomas.Core/Utils.fsi
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ module String =
     val empty: string
     val isNotNullOrEmpty: (string -> bool)
     val isNotNullOrWhitespace: (string -> bool)
+    /// Returns the visual column width of a string, counting Unicode grapheme clusters.
+    /// Unlike String.length, this correctly handles combining characters (e.g. diacritics)
+    /// which attach to a preceding character and do not advance the visual column.
+    /// Uses a fast path for pure-ASCII strings (no allocation).
+    val visualWidth: s: string -> int
 
 module List =
     val chooseState: f: ('a -> 'b -> 'a * 'c option) -> state: 'a -> l: 'b list -> 'c list