Excel 2007 is converting CSV fields into formulas

Excel 2007 is converting CSV fields into formulas I have a problem with a CSV file which has telephone numbers stored in their internationalized format (+1-800-555-1234). When opening this CSV in Excel 2007, it converts that data to a formula and displays the result (=1-800-555-1234; resulting in -2588).
Asked by: Guest \| Views: 186

Total answers/comments: 2

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Guest [Entry]

"Open a blank worksheet then select 'Data > Get External Data > From Text' (Excel 2007 menu layout). Then when you open your CSV file you'll get the 'Text Import Wizard' which will allow you to specify particular columns as Text instead of the default 'General'.
You might need to specify the appropriate File origin encoding (e.g. Unicode (UTF-8)) on the first page of the wizard, to hold onto the leading '+' characters.

Also, as Diago says, if you rename the file from .csv to .txt, and open in Excel, you'll get the Text Import Wizard without having to go through 'Data > Get external data...'."

Guest [Entry]

"Right-click on the cell --> choose 'Format Cell' --> Select under 'Category:' Text.

Or put "" "" around the data that you want to be viewed as text in the CSV file.

-JFV"