This post will introduce you to the process of importing a text file or CSV (Comma Separated Values) file into Excel. If you’re working with a large dataset, importing the data into Excel can save you time and effort compared to manually entering the data.
Excel provides several tools and methods for importing data from external sources, including text files and CSV files. In this article, we’ll show you how to use these tools and provide step-by-step instructions for importing a text file or CSV file into Excel.
Import Text File or CSV File into Excel Using From Text/CSV Feature
Here are the detailed step-by-step instructions for importing a text file or CSV file into Excel:
Step1: Open a new or existing Excel workbook.
Step2: Go to the “Data” tab on the ribbon and click on “From Text/CSV” in the “Get & Transform Data” group. If you’re using an older version of Excel, you may need to go to the “Data” tab and click on “From Text” instead.
Step3: Navigate to the location of the text or CSV file you want to import and select it. If the file is not in the default location, you can click on the “Browse” button to search for it. then click on the Import button.
Step4: The Text Import Wizard will open in the Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet. Choose one delimiter based on your imported file, such as: Tab character.
Step5: Once you’re satisfied with the settings, click on the “Load” button to import the data into Excel. The data will be inserted into a new worksheet in the workbook.
Open Text File Using with Open Command in Excel
You can also use the “Open” command to open or import a text file or CSV file. Here are the steps:
Step1: Open a new or existing Excel workbook.
Step2: Go to the “File” tab on the ribbon and click on “Open“.
Step3: Navigate to the location of the text or CSV file you want to import and select it.
Step4: In the “Open” dialog box, select “Text Files” or “All Files” from the drop-down menu next to “File name”. If you don’t see the file type you want to import, you can select “All Files” and then locate the file manually.
Step5: Select the file you want to import and click on “Open“.
Step6: The Text Import Wizard will open. The first step is to select the file type. By default, Excel will detect the file type based on the file extension, but you can also select the file type manually. For a text file or CSV file, you should select “Delimited“. Click Next button.
Step7: you need to specify the delimiter used in the file. Choose Tab checkbox as delimiters. Click Next button.
Step8: Preview the data to make sure it looks correct in Data Preview section. If you need to make any changes, you can go back to the previous steps in the Text Import Wizard. Click “Finish” button.
Step9: Click on the “Load” button to import the data into Excel. The data will be inserted into a new worksheet in the workbook.
If you want to import multiple text files, and you can go back to the “From Text/CSV” dialog box and repeat the above steps for each file.
Import CSV File to Worksheet with VBA Code
You can also import CSV file to a worksheet with VBA code in Excel, and you just need a few lines of VBA code, and you can quickly import a CSV file into a new worksheet in the active workbook.
Just do the following steps:
Step1: Press Alt + F11 to open the Microsoft VBA editor
Step2: From the menu bar, choose Insert > Module
Step3: In the Module window, paste the following VBA code.
Sub ImportCSV()
' Prompt the user for the path and filename of the CSV file
Dim filePath As String
filePath = Application.GetOpenFilename("CSV File (*.csv), *.csv", , "excelgeek for Excel", , False)
' Check if the user canceled the input box
If filePath = "" Then
MsgBox "No file selected. Import canceled.", vbExclamation, "Import CSV"
Exit Sub
End If
Set rangeAddress = Application.InputBox("please select a cell to output csv data", "excelgeek for Excel", Application.ActiveCell.Address, , , , , 8)
' Import the CSV file into a new worksheet in the active workbook
With ActiveSheet.QueryTables.Add(Connection:="TEXT;" & filePath, Destination:=Range(rangeAddress.Address))
.TextFileParseType = xlDelimited
.TextFileCommaDelimiter = True
.Refresh
End With
End Sub
Step4: Press F5 to run the code, or press the “Run” button on the toolbar
Step5: You need to select one CSV file in the Import dialog box.
Step6: you need to select one cell to output the csv data that you want to import.
Step7: The selected CSV data will be inserted into the current worksheet.
Conclusion
Importing text files or CSV files into Excel is very useful and it can save you time and effort when working with large datasets. With the built-in tools and methods provided by Excel, you can easily import your data and begin analyzing, manipulating, and visualizing it in a meaningful way.