CSV File Cell Formating?

[AMS100]

Hi,
I have a large CSV file im trying to open in Excel - to run a few changes on. Basically its a phonebook, all names and numbers are seperated by commas. Some numbers have a '0' prefix, some have a '+' prefix. When this file is opened in Excel the columns are right but the column with the actual number is getting changed by Excel i.e all '0' are being removed (where they appear as the first char) and numbers with a '+' prefix are being chaned totally. How can I turn this 'function' off - I just want Excel to show my data and not try to be clever with it.
Thanks.

 

[frainbreeze]

hello

try changing the extension of the file from .csv to .txt, and then open it in excel.
there will be a pop up box about text importing:

choose delimited
>next
check comma
>next
highlight the column with the telephone numberes and set the format as Text
>Finish

 

[SkipVought]

Hi,

Excel will always change STRINGS of NUMERIC CHARACTERS to NUMBERS.

Prefix all STRINGS of NUMERIC CHARACTERS with an apostrophy (').



Skip,

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at FAQ219-2884

 

[frainbreeze]

hello

if you have a phone book with a lot of entries it might be easier to let excel just import a txt file, instead of adding a ' before each line phone number...