What is a CSV File And How Do I Open It?

If you have worked with Spreadsheet, you must be a little aware of CSV format. Are you? If not, here is all you need to know about CSV files. CSV is a versatile and widely accepted format. But what makes it so popular? To get answers to all these questions, let us find out deep about CSV format and how to open it. However, if you cannot open CSV file, use CSV to vCard Converter to convert CSV files to vCard format. It is a perfect solution for organizing contact information. Let us explore the details.

What is a CSV File?

A CSV or Comma-Separated Value is generally a simple text file that uses commas to separate the information. It can be accessed easily in any program with plain text like Notepad. The data in CSV is in a tabular form when it works with a spreadsheet program. As a result, many spreadsheet programs like Microsoft Excel, Google Spreadsheet, Open Office Calc., etc., offer the CSV file extension for Output. Hence, we use them to share the data as long as the two programs open a CSV file.

Structure of a CSV File

As we know, a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file uses commas to separate values. But what does a typical CSV file structure look like? Let’s explore.

In a plain text editor like Notepad, a CSV file appears as a simple text file where each value is separated by a comma. For example, a CSV file might contain four columns labeled ‘Name,’ ‘Designation,’ ‘Balance,’ and ‘Months’. And has five rows, with the first row often serving as the header.

In Microsoft Excel, a CSV file is displayed in a tabular format, making it easy to view and work with. You can also export a CSV file into other spreadsheet programs like Google Sheets or OpenOffice Calc. They offer similar table-based views.

Why Do We Use CSV Files?

CSV files are extensively used for different business purposes. They help organizations to export a large quantity of data in a more organized way. The following are the main reasons to use these CSV files:

• These files are plain text files. Hence, it is easier to import into any spreadsheet or storage database program.
• When opened in a spreadsheet, CSV files contain the data in a tabular form, making it easy to access data.
• The main advantage of the CSV file is that it stores a large volume of data, allowing users to organize large amounts of data.
• CSV files are highly portable and flexible to import into many software programs.

These are some main advantages of CSV files that make them so popular for organizational purposes. Let’s move ahead to understand how we can open a CSV file into Microsoft Excel.

How to Open a CSV File?

Users can access and open CSV using multiple applications, including MS Excel, Google Spreadsheet, and Text Editor. In this section, we will explore steps to open CSV files in these applications.

Open CSV in MS Excel

As we know, Microsoft Excel is one of the most popular and widely used spreadsheet programs. Therefore, we need to understand how we can open a CSV file in an Excel spreadsheet. Do as the steps direct:

1. Start the MS Excel application on your system.
2. Go to the Excel Menu bar, and click on the File option.
3. Select the Open option and then click on the Browse.
4. Now, click on the drop-down menu right to the File Name field. Change All Excel Files to All Files.
5. Then, navigate to the CSV file location in your system.
6. After selecting the CSV file click on the Open button.
7. Now your CSV file is opened in Microsoft Excel. You can edit any kind of formatting and information as per your requirements.

Let’s move on to the next spreadsheet program called Google Spreadsheet.

Open CSV File in Google Spreadsheet

Opening a CSV file in Google Sheets is much easier than Excel Sheets. It automatically sets all the options while uploading the CSV file. You can execute the following steps to upload a CSV file in Google Spreadsheet:

1. Open the Google Sheet. Click on the File option.
2. Then, select Open. After that navigate to the Upload option.
3. Now, click on the Select a file from your device option.
4. Select the CSV file that you want to import.
5. Then, click on the Open button.
6. Your CSV file is uploading. After uploading, you can see your CSV file in Google Spreadsheet.

Open a CSV File in a Text Editor

In the text editor program, you will see the data of the CSV file in a comma-separated value. To open a CSV file in a text editor application, you have to perform the following steps.

1. Open a text editor program like Windows Notepad.
2. Now, click on the File button and then select Open.
3. After that, click on the dropdown right to the File Name option. Change it from Text Documents to All Files.
4. In the end, find the CSV file and click on the Open button.

You can open a CSV file in a text editor application like Notepad by performing the above steps. Select any of the above methods to open your CSV file. You can also edit the information or data as per your requirements.

How To Create a CSV File in Excel?

You can also create a CSV file by using the Microsoft Excel Program. To create a CSV file, you need to perform the following steps.

1. Open Excel to create an Excel CSV file.
2. Now, click on the File option.
3. Press the Save As button.
4. Navigate to the Browse option.
5. Define a location where you want to save this file.
6. Under the File Name, click on the Save as Type option.
7. Select CSV (Comma delimited) and then click on Save.

It will save your file data in CSV format at the destination location. In this way, you can create a CSV file by simply using the Microsoft Excel program.

Conclusion

This article explained everything about a CSV file format. It provides you with the possible reasons that bring on the demand to use this file format. You can also find the different methods to import CSV files in Microsoft Excel, Google Spreadsheet, and Windows notebook applications. In the end, it provides the step-by-step procedure of how to create a CSV file in Microsoft Excel.