Xargaar ToolsCSV and Excel ToolkitHow to open a CSV in Excel without losing leading zeros
Why it happens
Excel guesses a type for each column. If a value looks like a number, 00123 becomes 123 and a long ID such as 1234567890123456 becomes 1.23457E+15. The CSV file itself still holds the right text. The damage is done when Excel reads it.
Convert it to .xlsx first
If the values are stored as text in an .xlsx file, Excel shows them as written. The CSV and Excel Toolkit reads every value as text and writes them as text, so leading zeros, phone numbers and long IDs stay intact.
Steps
Add the CSV, pick Excel (.xlsx) as the format, press Create file. Leave "Store plain numbers as numbers" unticked if the sheet has IDs. Tick it if you want to sum a column of amounts.
Accents look wrong?
Excel often misreads UTF-8 files as Windows-1252, so Zürich becomes Zürich. Ticking the BOM option when saving a CSV fixes that. Saving as .xlsx avoids the problem.
Your data stays with you
Nothing is uploaded. The conversion runs on your device, which matters for customer lists and payroll exports.
Open the free CSV and Excel ToolkitPlanned $19 one-time offline pack: Offline pack in preparation. Not yet for sale.