{"id":10264,"date":"2022-06-27T17:12:15","date_gmt":"2022-06-27T17:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/?p=10264"},"modified":"2024-03-28T13:49:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-28T13:49:29","slug":"set-the-default-delimiter-for-the-csv-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/officetuts.net\/excel\/examples\/set-the-default-delimiter-for-the-csv-files\/","title":{"rendered":"Set the Default Delimiter for the CSV Files in Excel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Set-the-Default-Delimiter-for-the-CSV-Files<\/a>Download File<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

So far, you could have noticed that there are several types of files that Excel can work with. One of these files is a CSV file<\/strong>, whose name is an acronym for comma-separated values<\/strong> file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Different regions have different default delimiter values. It can either be semicolons or commas<\/strong>. With these things in mind, we can have a lot of upload issues, or we can have a situation where all the files are put into the first column (column A)<\/strong> after file opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the text below, we will show how can you avoid these problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set the Default Delimiter for the Exporting CSV Files<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are two scenarios for these situations – we can either save our<\/strong> file as a CSV file<\/strong><\/a>, or we can import a CSV<\/strong> (or a text file to Excel).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first scenario, i.e., when we want to save our file as a CSV file, we have two options- we can convert our file to be delimited<\/strong> by semicolon, or comma-delimited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make it semicolon-delimited<\/strong>, we need to set the default decimal separator<\/strong> to be a comma. With this move, we will get Excel to use semicolons for separating our data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our data will show sales figures for a couple of years, as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To check the separator options in the Excel as a whole, we need to go to the File tab >> Options >> Advanced >> Editing Options:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once there, we will go and choose a Decimal separator to be a comma<\/strong>, and a Thousand separator to be a dot<\/strong> (as in the picture above).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we will click OK<\/strong>, go to File >> Save As<\/strong>, and choose CSV (Comma delimited)<\/strong> as an option in Save as Type<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To check the delimiter, we will go to our saved file, select it, right-click on it <\/strong>and choose Open with >> Notepad<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When we open the file, we will see that our data is separated by semicolons<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We will repeat the same process, but only this time, we will define the separator for decimal to be a dot<\/strong>, and for thousands to be a comma<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We will save the file as the CSV file again, and open it with Notepad<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Text\n\nDescription<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You will notice that the data is now separated by the comma<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that you can manipulate this by going to the File tab >> Options >> Advanced >> Editing Options<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set the Default Delimiter for the Importing CSV Files<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Now we will talk about the way in which you can define the separator when opening the CSV files with Excel<\/a>. Suppose that we have the CSV file with the following data:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You will notice a CSV extension in the name of the file. We can now basically close the file, open the new Excel file, and then go to Data >> Get & Transform Data >> From Text\/CSV<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once there, we will find the location of our<\/strong> CSV file and click Import<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a window that appears, Excel will ask us what kind of a delimiter we want for our file, and we can choose among colon, comma, equal sign, semicolon, space, tab<\/strong>, or we can define the custom separator<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once we choose the Delimiter and Data Type Detection<\/strong> (based on the entire dataset is the preferred option), we click on Loan<\/strong>, and the file will be imported. However, this does not resolve our original issue- how to set the default delimiter when importing a CSV file?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To do this, we need to open<\/strong> our original CSV file with Notepad<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graphical<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When we do this, we will insert the following in front of our text, depending on the delimiter that we want:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • If we want our separator to be a comma: sep=,<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If we want our separator to be a semicolon: sep=,<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • If we want our separator to be a pipe: sep=|<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    We open our file, and then define the separator to be a colon<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"Text\n\nDescription<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    We will save the file, and now our data will be separated by a colon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the same way, we could only change the first line in our file, according to the bullets, and we would organize the data in a way we want.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    So far, you could have noticed that there are several types of files that Excel can work with. One of these files is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[170,190],"yoast_head":"\nSet the Default Delimiter for the CSV Files in Excel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to set the default delimiter for CSV files in Excel to avoid upload issues and column misplacements. 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