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I am creating a large file in Excel that contains two columns with large numbers. I am formatting these columns (actually the entire worksheet) as TEXT.

When I save the file as .xlsx and open it back up, these columns still appear as text, which is good.

When I save the file as .csv and then open the file in a text editor, the columns appear as text, which is also good.

However, when I open the .csv file in Excel, these columns now appear in scientific format. I can manually reformat the columns, but that will not work for my purposes.

Is there any way for me to accomplish what I need? Specifically, I need to be able to create a .csv file that will display these long numbers (barcode values) as text, regardless of whether the file is opened in a text editor or Excel.

Anders
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War Eagle
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  • What deliminator are you using to break up the text? – Ramhound Sep 08 '16 at 17:27
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    That's Excel's internal CSV handler. Here are some options [to work around him](https://superuser.com/questions/307496/how-can-i-set-excel-to-always-import-all-columns-of-csv-files-as-text) – nixda Sep 08 '16 at 17:31
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    Change the filename from .CSV to .txt before reopening in excel, and then use the import wizard to ensure it imports as text. – Tyson Sep 08 '16 at 19:10
  • CSV files do not contain any formatting information. – Burgi Mar 09 '20 at 16:58
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    Does this answer your question? [How can I set Excel to always import all columns of CSV files as Text?](https://superuser.com/questions/307496/how-can-i-set-excel-to-always-import-all-columns-of-csv-files-as-text) – Burgi Mar 09 '20 at 16:59

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