What you should know
CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is the simplest format for exchanging a table: a text file where each line is a row and columns are separated by a character, usually the comma. RFC 4180 describes its common use.
It is the universal export format of banks, accounting software, databases and analytics tools: every spreadsheet can open it, and every program can write it.
Strengths
- Readable by every spreadsheet, database and programming language
- Light text file, openable even in a notepad
- Ideal for importing or exporting data between programs
- No stray formatting
Limitations to know
- A single sheet, without formulas, colours or formatting
- The separator varies: French Excel uses the semicolon
- Accents display badly if the encoding is not specified
- Dates and decimal numbers may be misread on opening
When to use it
Use CSV to move data from one program to another. For a table to read or share with its formatting, prefer Excel or PDF.
Quality, size and compatibility
FileXvert automatically detects a CSV's separator (comma, semicolon, tab). To Excel, clearly numeric values become numbers; an ambiguous value such as 1,234, or a code starting with 0, stays as text. To CSV, the file is written in UTF-8 with a byte order mark, so Excel displays accents correctly.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does my CSV open in a single column in Excel?
- Because Excel in some languages expects a semicolon and the file uses commas. Open it through Data, then From Text, or convert it to Excel with FileXvert.
- Are leading zeros in postcodes kept?
- Yes: FileXvert does not turn a value starting with 0, such as 01000 or 0612345678, into a number.