Downloadable data tables are presented in Comma Delimited, CSV text file format. This file format is best viewed in applications designed to create spreadsheets and databases, such as Microsoft Excel.
Tips:
- Open Excel. Select and open (or import) the CSV file as a text file. Choose to import as a 'delimited' file (not 'fixed width'). When you are prompted to choose a 'delimiter', choose comma only. This should tell Excel to read the file as comma-delimited.
- Check the regional settings on your machine. The regional settings affect many applications, so we recommend only using this with care. The necessary settings can be found under the Control Panel > Regional and Language Options. There are two ways to adjust the regional and language options. One is to choose a regional setting that does not use the comma as a number or list separator. (English (United States) is a common option in this case.) The other way is to update your local settings as follows.
- Choose to 'customize' your regional setting.
- For the 'Decimal symbol' choose something other than the comma, such as a period.
- For the 'List separator' choose something other than the comma, such as a semi-colon.
Regional settings can be changed back and forth at any time.
With these changes in place, CSV files should read properly in Excel.
