How to quickly convert a CSV file to columns in Excel?

There are several ways to convert a CSV file into Excel columns. In this article, we'll explore two of the most effective methods to help you achieve this quickly and easily.

Open CSV file in Excel

Insert CSV file in Excel

Open CSV file in Excel

The most commonly used method is opening the CSV file directly through Excel.

1. Click "File" > "Open" > "Browse" to select a CSV file from a folder, remember to choose "All Files" in the drop-down list next to "File name" box. See screenshot:

2. Click "Open", and the CSV file has been opened in the Excel.

Tip. If you have "Kutools for Excel", you can apply its "Insert File at Cursor" utility to quickly insert a CSV file or text file or Excel file or PRN file to the cell which cursor places.

Note：

But sometimes, there are some data with special formats such as the leading zeros in the CSV file, these special formats may be lost if the CSV file is opening through Excel as below screenshot shown. In this case, you need to use below method.

Insert CSV file in Excel

To keep the format of the contents in the CSV file, you can use the "From Text" utility to import the CSV file.

1. Select a cell which you will insert the CSV file and click "Data" > "From Text". See screenshot:

2. In the "Import Text File" dialog, select a file you need to import. See screenshot:

3. Click "Import", and a dialog of "Text Import Wizard" opens, check "Delimited" option and click "Next" to go to "step 2 of the Wizard", and then check "Comma". See screenshot:

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4. Click "Next", then select the columns with special formats in the "Data preview" section. Choose the appropriate format for each column under the "Column data format" section. You can format the columns one by one, and if you don’t need a column, simply check the "Do not Import column (skip)" option. See screenshots:

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5. Click "Finish" and select a place to output the result. See screenshot:

6. Click "OK". Now the CSV file has been inserted.