“How to convert a CSV file to Excel” is one of the most frequently searched Excel-related questions online, and for a good reason. Converting CSV files to Excel workbooks doesn’t always work out smoothly, leading to all sorts of errors and formatting issues.
Fortunately, there are quick and easy solutions to this problem, and we’ll cover them in our article. Additionally, we’ll offer basic advice on how to address potential, such as CSV data not aligning correctly within Excel columns.
How To Convert A CSV File to Excel
Here’s a brief guide on how to convert CSV files to Excel workbooks. We’ll go into detail on the process later on:
- Open Microsoft Excel
- Open/import CSV File into Excel
- Parse the data
- Saves as Excel Workbook
How to Open a CSV File in Excel
If you created a CSV file in another program or database software and would like to open it in Excel, you’re in luck! You can still open it as an Excel Workbook using the “Open” command in the “File” menu. However, there are some special considerations that you need to take into account when you open it.
Keep in mind that opening a CSV file in Excel doesn’t actually change the file format. It just allows you to open your CSV file in the program and view the contents. There are other steps that you will have to take in order to create the full conversion.
- Open Microsoft Excel.
- Go to “File,” then click “Open.”
- The Open dialog box will pop up. Click the drop-down button on the lower right-hand corner, and select “Text Files (*.prn,*.txt,*.csv)”.
4. Locate the CSV file and select it. Once selected, click “Open” button on the lower right-hand corner.
-If you’re opening a .csv file, the data should be imported without any problems. Optional: You can change the file type of your document from .csv to .txt to get the screen to open, if needed.
-If you’re opening a .txt file, you’ll have to go through the Import Text Wizard for the data to be located correctly.
5. When Microsoft Excel opens your .csv file, it will use all of the default data from the settings and assign data to each column. If your data needs different formatting, use the Import Text Wizard instead.
Issues that can arise in this process that would require you to use the Import Text Wizard include:
- Different delimiters used to separate the different data fields from one another.
- The .csv file has a different format for dates that Excel can not read with default settings.
- You have converted numbers with leading zeroes and would like to preserve those leading zeros when you load it into the Excel sheet.
- You would like to see a preview of how the data will look once it has been loaded into Excel
- You would like to play around with the options to see what other options are available within the wizard.
How to Import CSV to Excel
There are other options for importing CSV data into Excel as well. You can use this method to import the data contained in the CSV file into a new Excel Worksheet. This method is different because it does not open the file in Excel but actually converts the .csv file to .xlsx or .xls, depending on your version of Excel.
If you would like to import CSV files to Excel, follow these steps:
- Open Microsoft Excel.
- Click on the cell where you would like to import the data from the .csv. In many cases, this will be cell A1.
- At the top of the screen, click the “Data” tab. Select “From Text”, which can be found in the “Get External Data” group.
4. An Open dialog box should appear. Navigate to the CSV file you’d like to import, and click the “Import” button on the lower right-hand corner.
5. The “Text Import Wizard” dialog box should appear. Follow the steps provided below. Make sure to choose “Delimited” as your original data type. The delimiter is the character used to separate data fields in your CSV file. The most commonly used .csv delimiter is the comma (,).
Notice how this screen provides you with a preview of the data. You can use this preview to ensure that you are importing the data correctly, using the right delimiters.
6. Choose the destination for importing the information. This will be a cell in an existing or new worksheet. Click “OK” to finish, and you’re done importing!
Converting CSV to Excel
Converting a CSV file to an Excel (XLS) file is a relatively simple process using these two methods. These present the easiest and most straightforward ways to pull CSV data into an Excel workbook.
Creating CSV or Excel File for Import into Organimi
Organimi allows you to import any CSV or Excel file for creation of your org chart. To get started on creating a CSV file for import the CSV file must contain these columns (in any order)
- ID
- First Name
- Last Name
- Boss ID*
*You can create a “Boss ID” column that outlines reporting relationships based on IDs or you can leave the Boss ID for the topmost role (i.e. CEO) blank.
Tips:
- Check your essential columns: Ensure that the file contains the following columns: ID, First Name, Last Name, and when you use these columns shown above, Organimi automatically creates the org chart structure.
- Check your headings: Ensure that row 1 (the top row) consists of column headings
- Omit data for the CEO’s Boss ID: Place the top role (i.e. CEO or President) in row 2 directly below the column headings. Notice that the first cell under the heading Boss ID is intentionally left blank
- Ensure you have an email column: Ensure you include a column for the email address, as this is used as an identifier, and is important if you wish to re-upload the CSV file again to update your roster information (and chart
- Check for blanks: Avoid having blank rows between names as it can cause errors.
- Use colons to tidy up: Separate multiple role IDs in the Dottedids column with a colon
You can import a sample CSV file here. For more information on CSV to Excel, please visit our help centre for more information.
Import A CSV File into Organimi
- From your organization’s dashboard, click the BULK IMPORT button.
- Click the ROSTER + CHART button
- Click IMPORT A NEW CHART
- Drag and drop the Excel/CSV file into the grey box or click the grey tile to select the filefrom your ocmputer
- Click the NEXT button
- Review and select all column names that match the corresponding field data names
- Click the NEXT button
- Click FINISH
For a more thorough step-by-step, please visit our help centre document on Importing a CSV file into Organimi