When I open my Archive CSV file in Excel, why do some of the units show up as strange characters?

Our Archive CSVs are encoded in Unicode. Excel does not recognize this encoding when opening up a CSV file directly. Instead, you need to import the file and indicate the encoding you would like Excel to use.

Simply follow these steps:

  • Create a blank worksheet
  • Import the data using one of the following methods (depending on your version of Excel):
    • Data > Get External Data
    • Data > Import Data From Text
    • File > Import, then choose “CSV file”
  • Select the archive CSV file
  • In the import Wizard, change the File Origin to “Unicode (UTF-8)” and be sure that Delimited is selected
  • Change the Delimiter to comma (remove all other delimiter options)
  • Select where to import to and click “Finish”

The units will then display correctly.

Also note that units will display correctly if the CSV file is opened in a text editor or as a spreadsheet in Google Documents.

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    Alexander Marini

    Can't you just add support for "normal" excel files?