What can I learn from this page? | Discover why CSV files may pose issues in Microsoft Excel and explore solutions. |
Who is this guide for? | Account Admins |
Sometimes, CSV files downloaded from Culture Amp may open incorrectly in Microsoft Excel, with all data appearing in one cell.
This issue typically arises due to the default settings of your operating system or Microsoft Excel, specifically locale settings. The common cause of the problem is the use of the period (.) and comma (,) in different locales and the fact that the comma (,) is used as the delimiter in exports generated by Culture Amp.
A CSV file does not contain any information about the format of the data in it and therefore it is not possible for the Culture Amp platform to define the requirements as part of the download. That means you may need to import/open the file in Excel a little differently if you run into this problem or use a different program.
💡 Tip: We have found that using a different program, such as Google Sheets or Apple Numbers, can resolve this problem quickly without needing additional steps.
Suggested Actions to Open in Microsoft Excel
If you're limited to using Microsoft Excel and can't try another program, the following suggestion can be used as general guidance, based on our research. If issues persist, we recommend reaching out to Microsoft support directly for assistance.
If you're encountering issues opening a specific CSV file in Excel by default, try these steps to open the file:
Open the Excel Application and go to the "Data" tab. (Do not open the file itself)
Look for the "Get & Transform Data" section and click on "From Text/CSV".
In the "Import Data" dialog box, navigate to the location of the downloaded CSV file and select it.
In the "Text Import Wizard" dialog box, select "Delimited" and click "Next".
Choose the delimiter that your CSV file uses (for Culture Amp files this is a comma) and click "Next".
Make sure that all the columns in your CSV file are highlighted in the preview section and click "Next".
Choose the appropriate data format for each column (General, Text, Date, etc.) and click "Finish".
⛔️ Important: Culture Amp cannot verify or guarantee the validity of this suggested action. The method in which a file is interpreted by Excel is dictated by the application itself, not the file that is generated by Culture Amp.
We would recommend that you complete your own research to determine the solution that suits you best based on your own system and application settings.
Excel is an application provided by Microsoft. Any additional assistance should be sought using the support services provided by Microsoft.