Overcoming date formatting changes in csv file

Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing well.
I'm dealing with an Excel sheet that contains a set of values which are to be barcodes.
I need these barcodes in column B to be fixed either as number or text, ensuring that they are treated as text even if they resemble a date, such as '2225-03-01'.
The reason for this is that when the format changes to a date, I encounter issues uploading the file into my accounting program.

I've attempted various methods, including adding an apostrophe, adjusting the date settings in Windows, and using the TEXT formula to bind it to a date format but without being as date. Unfortunately, none of these approaches have been successful.

My primary concern is that when the CSV file is reopened, the values originally formatted as dates should still be treated as text. I appreciate any assistance in achieving this objective.

Thanks a lot for your assistance.

I'm not sure I understand exactly where in your process these text strings are being converted to dates. If I open your text file in a text editor, they appear to all be correct xxxx-xx-xx text strings. I have no trouble opening/importing the file into Excel, as long as I use an open/import method that allows me to prevent Excel from interpreting that field as dates. I find that debugging and resolving these kinds of issues often comes down to understanding exactly when the text gets converted to a date. Usually, this is the open/reopen/import step. Help us understand how you are opening/reopening/importing these text files.

The attached image (3 separate stages shown) shows how you can check that the barcodes are kept in the '2225-03-01' format.In the last stage, chose 'text' from the pop-up menu

Convert data.jpg

Look for the Data tab in the Ribbon, then Get External Data

Next,in the Import Dialog, browse to and open the CSV file.

This should bring up the text import wizard.

1. Choose Delimited
2. Tick Headers
3. Click Next
4. Only select Comma
5. Click Next
6. Select the column which gets misinterpreted
7. Choose Text
8. Click Finish