CSV - numbers change into date in Excel

[Fantastic]

Hello,

I have not found a similar post so here it is. I have received a CSV file that I must convert into an Excel spreadsheet. So far so good, I can do that. BUT, in my CSV files I have numbers (06-4) that convert into a date in Excel and I don't know what to do to not have that. I know I can convert the format into text, but it is a very long file and the data is spread out, so it would take me a long time to change every thing. I am talking about diffrent sets of numbers,not just one (06-1, 06-4, 13-2, etc).

I would appreciate it if someone had a solution to offre.

Thanks

Michelle

[MarvinP]

Hi Michelle,

There are a few different answers to your question based on what your data looks like. If you could attach a sample file, I'm sure we could give a good answer.

If you pull in the data using Power Query I'm sure it wouldn't convert it. If those "06-4" texts are in different columns the problem gets a bit harder. What happens if you format the whole sheet as text before you start the import? Are there numbers and other text strings that aren't supposed to convert? We really need a short sample to understand the question.

Looking on the net shows a similar problem?? https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/s...rmat-csv-file/

[PeteABC123]

Can you upload an Excel file with a small representation of what your data looks like?
Please show, locations, cell values before changing to date, and desired look after converting to dates.

Will the dates be used in calculations? (Might prevent a hiccup later if you have to use your new dates to calculate something.)
Can a helper column be utilized?

Thanks Fantastic.

Pete

[Fantastic]

Hello Marvin,

I have chosen just one line on which I changed some info because I am dealing with names, adresses, and social security numbers. The info I want to keep as a number is 06-4 and it falls under the headher "Region". I am not the one creating the CSV file, I receive it, but I have to convert it into an Excel spreadsheet to do my work. I don't know how the guy extracted the info, but he is not inclined to help me (plus it would cost $$), hence my presence on this forum.
I hope you can help.
I have not used that site in a while so let me know if my file did not upload.

Thanks

Michelle

[Fantastic]

Hi Pete,

As I replied to Marvin, I gave you a very tiny sample because my file has confidential info. But I am attaching the file here again so you can see it.
Thank you for taking the time to look at my problem

Michelle

[MarvinP]

Hi Michelle,

See attached where I've used Power Query to pull in your data and then separate the columns using the delimiter of comma. That would be my first choice but you may not know how to do PQ.
PQ import for Michelle.xlsx
For a better answer, can you tell us how, exactly, you are importing your csv file using Excel? What icons or dialogs are you using?

[Fantastic]

Hello Marvin,

I am not importing the data, that's the problem. Someone saves the CSV file on our cloud and I have to convert it in a format I can work with.
I want to thank you for looking into this, but I see that I still have the same problem in your file (the region column gives me a date and not a number).
Don't worry about it. I don't think I'll be able to solve this simply because I did not extract the info myself. So I will change the data manuelly.

Thanks again.

Have a nice day.