How to change a file to excel

Different applications generate data in different forms.

A SaaS application might generate a report in the form of a PDF, while another application might generate data in the form of a TXT or CSV file.

The challenge lies in consolidating the data into a single application that can work with all the data to produce the required results.

Microsoft Excel is one application that is frequently used for this, owing to its versatility in importing data from files with a wide variety of extensions.  

For example, if you have a list of items saved in a Text file (or in Notepad), Excel allows you to import this list so that you can process it further.

In this tutorial we will show you two ways to convert a text file to Excel:

• By using the Text Import Wizard
• By opening the file directly in Excel

What is a Text File?

A Text file is one that contains text with no special formatting (as in bold, italic, images, etc.).

These files are identified with the ‘.txt’ extension and can be opened in any text editor, like Notepad or word processor, like Microsoft Word.

But in many cases, you can have data in a text file that you need to open in Excel and analyze there.

Thankfully, you can easily open text files in Microsoft Excel and then further work on it.

Let’s see how to do that!

Let us look at two ways in which we can convert a Text file (.txt) to Excel.

Method 1: Using the Text Import Wizard to Convert a Text File to Excel

If you have a spreadsheet open in Excel and want to import the contents of a Text file at a specific area of your spreadsheet, the Text Import Wizard might be the best way to go.

This wizard scans your text file and ensures that the data in the file is imported the way you want.

To use the Text Import Wizard, select the Data tab, followed by ‘From Text’ (which you will find under the ‘Get External Data’ group. 

After this, select the text file that you want to import.

Your Text Import Wizard should now open automatically. 

The Text Import Wizard guides you in providing the best settings to import your text file data through 3 steps:

Step 1 of 3

In this step you can provide the settings for the following:

• Original Data Type: Here you can choose how you want your data to be separated into columns. You have two options:
  • Delimited: Select this if your text file data is separated by tabs, colons, semicolons or other characters.
  • Fixed width: Select this if all items in each column of your data are the same width.
• Start import at row: Type or select the first row of your data from where you want to start importing.
• File origin: Select the character set that your text file uses, for example 437 (for the OEM United States character set). Usually, it’s fine to leave this at the default setting.
• My data has headers: Keep this field checked if your Text file’s dataset contains headers.

Step 2 of 3

If you had selected the ‘Delimited’ radio button in Step 1, then this step lets you specify the delimiters that your data contains (for example tabs, commas, semicolons, etc.) You can also specify if you want consecutive delimiters to be counted as one. 

Moreover, if your text values are enclosed in a special set of characters (for example in single or double quotes), then you can specify the character in this step.

These characters are known as ‘Text qualifiers’ and help specify if you want a set of values to be imported as one.

For example, “Scott, Steve” is imported as a single value, even though the words are separated by a comma delimiter.

At the bottom of the screen, you can see a preview of how your data will get affected in the spreadsheet after conversion.

If you had selected the ‘Fixed Width’ radio button in Step 1, on the other hand, then Step 2 lets you specify widths for each column.

You can introduce a new column break in the preview window by simply clicking at the appropriate point on the scale.

A line with an arrow should appear to represent the column break.

Place line breaks wherever you need to in the preview window.

If you want to move a line break, simply drag it across. If you want to remove a line, simply double-click on it.

Step 3 of 3

This lets you specify the data format for each column.

You can specify if you want a column to remain in the default format set by the Text Import Wizard or if you want to set the format to be General, Text, or Date. 

Simply select a column from the preview window and select the format you want.

If you want to remove a selected column, select the last radio button option (which says ‘Do not import column‘).

The Advanced button in this step opens the Advanced Text Import Settings dialog box. 

This dialog box lets you specify advanced formatting options.

For example, you can use the Advanced Text Import Settings to specify what decimal or thousands separators have been used in the text file, so that they can be made to match your computer’s regional settings.

Once you’re done providing all the settings for your imported text data, click on the Finish button.

This will open the Import Data dialog box.

In this box, you can select where you want your text file’s data imported.

If you want to import it into the existing worksheet, you can select or type in a reference to the cell where you want Excel to start displaying the imported data.

If you want to open it in a new worksheet, however, then select the radio button next to ‘New Worksheet’.

Click OK.

Your text file should now get imported to your selected location in Excel, with the format settings that you had specified in the Text Import Wizard.

Also read: How to Open XML Files in Excel?

Method 2: Opening a Text File Directly in Excel

You can also choose to simply open the text file directly in Excel.

While opening, Excel recognizes a text file and automatically converts it into a format that can be displayed in a spreadsheet. 

All you need to do is click on the File tab, select Open and then browse and select the text file that you want to open.

One issue that you are likely to face when trying to open a text file directly in Excel is trying to locate the file in the folder.

This is because Excel’s ‘Open File’ dialog box, by default, filters, and displays only Excel files like those with extensions ‘.xls’, ‘.xlsx’, etc.

It also displays CSV files, if your computer is set up to use Excel as the default application to open CSV files.

So if you don’t see your required text file in the folder when trying to open it in Excel, simply select ‘All Files’ from the ‘File Types’ drop-down, as shown below:

This will display the Text Import Wizard from where you can set up how you want your Text file’s data to be displayed in Excel (as shown in method 1).

You should now see your text file converted and displayed in Excel.  

Once the file opens, if you still find some of the columns (or individual cells) not converted to your required format, you can convert them manually.

While this method to open the Text file directly in Excel works well, the benefit of using the first method (using Text Import Wizard) allows you to make some adjustments even before getting the data in Excel.

In this tutorial, we showed you two ways to convert and open a Text file in Excel.

A third method could be by using online tools like Online2pdf, but we did not dwell too much on this because Excel’s Text Import Wizard provides much more flexibility, allowing you to adjust your data, and format them exactly how you want them.

We hope this tutorial was helpful for you.

Other Excel tutorials you may also like:

• How to Convert a CSV File to Excel?
• How to Open VCF File in Excel?
• How to Open Excel File [xls, xlsx] Online (for FREE)
• Why does Excel Open on Startup (and How to Stop it)
• How to Make Excel File Read Only
• How to Insert an Excel file into MS Word
• How to Save Selection in Excel as PDF (3 Easy Methods)
• How to Merge Two Excel Files?
• How to Convert PDF to Excel without Software?
• How to Open DAT Files in Excel?

Updated: 04/30/2020 by

If you have information in a Microsoft Word document that you need to import to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Excel provides functionality to do the conversion. Select the version of Word and Excel you’re using and follow the steps to make a plain text version of your Word document and importing it into Excel.

Microsoft Office 365

1. Open the Word document containing the information you want to convert to Excel.
2. In the Ribbon, click the File tab, and click the Save As option.
3. Choose the location on your computer where you want to save the plain text file, enter a name for the file, and change the file type to Plain Text. For this example, the Word file is named «CH Test File,» and the plain text file is named «CH Test File Plain.» Once you’ve chosen the location and named the file, click Save.

1. A File Conversion pop-up window opens. Leave the Windows (default) checked, and click OK.
2. You can now close the Word document and program.
3. Open Microsoft Excel and click New > Blank workbook.
4. In the Ribbon, click the Data tab, and click the From Text/CSV option.

1. Find the location on the computer where you saved the plain text file in step 3. Click the file, and then click Import.
2. Excel opens a blank pop-up box asking you to specify the File Origin, Delimiter, and Data Type detection. Verify the default information is correct and click Load. If any information isn’t correct, make any necessary changes and click Load. The imported information is now in the correct format in Excel.
3. Save the Excel file.

Microsoft Office 2016 and earlier versions

1. Open the Word document containing the information you want to convert to Excel.
2. In the Ribbon, click the File tab, and click the Save As option.
3. Choose the location on your computer where you want to save the plain text file, enter a name for the file, and change the file type to Plain Text. Once you’ve chosen the location and named the file, click Save.
4. A File Conversion pop-up window opens. Leave the Windows (default) checked, and click OK.
5. You can now close the Word document and program.
6. Open Microsoft Excel and click New > Blank workbook.
7. In the Ribbon, click the Data tab, and click the From Text option.
8. Find the location on the computer where you saved the plain text file in step 3. Click the file name, and then click Import.
9. In the Text Import Wizard, on step 1 of 3, click Delimited, then click Next.
10. On step 2 of 3, check the box next to the desired delimiters (space, comma, tab, etc.), then click Next.
11. On step 3 of 3, review all information is correct, make any necessary changes, then click Finish.
12. If you checked Existing Worksheet, select a cell where you want to put the data. Click OK. The imported information is now in the correct format in Excel.
13. Save the Excel file.

Your data could be in any form from PDF, TXT, PNG, JPG, to CSV files. Some applications create files in the form of a PDF whereas other apps generate data files in the form of a TXT or CSV file. On the whole, you must be struggling to convert a Text file to an Excel spreadsheet because switching data into a single file can work differently instead of multiple files.

With Microsoft Excel, you can do this task frequently because it has many features that can help you execute multiple functions. Suppose, you are having a list of items in a TXT file, with Excel you can easily import the list to process it differently.

Here you will get to know exactly how converting a text file to an Excel spreadsheet could be an easygoing thing.

You can do this by:

• Using the Text Import Wizard
• Opening the file directly in Excel

So, before getting into the boat let’s have a look at what a text file basically is?

What is a Text File?

In a text file, as the name shows, you will see the text without special formattings such as italic, bold, images, or other formats. A text file appears with a .txt extension and you can view this file in any text editor such as Notepad or a word processor like Microsoft Word. However, you can open a text file in Excel to make further changes.

Let’s get to know how it all happens:

Converting a Text File to Excel Spreadsheet – How it Works

Normally, two methods exist for this as mentioned earlier:

• Text Import Wizard
• Direct File open in Excel

Using the Text Import Wizard to Convert a Text File to Excel

The Text Import Wizard feature could be one of the best tools when you need to import the data of a text file at some specific place on the spreadsheet of Excel.

Your text file gets scanned using the Wizard tool and it ensures that the data in the file is imported exactly as you want it to.

To make this tool functional, simply choose the Data tab given in the “From Text” menu located under the “Get External Data” group.

Later on, choose the text file you need to import.

Now, you will see the Text Import Wizard appears automatically.

Here are 3 steps that will guide you further to import the text file:

Step 1:

At first, you may need to provide the settings for the following:

Original Data Type:

In this option, you have to choose how your data should be separated into columns. You have two options:

Delimited: If the text file data is being separated using tabs, colons, semicolons, or other characters, you will have to choose this option.

Fixed Width: If each item in the columns of your data has similar width then you should choose this option.

Start Import at Row:

Type or choose the first row of the data right from you want to start importing.

File Origin:

Choose the character set that your text files use such as 437. Generally, you can leave it in the default setting.

My Data has Headers:

If the data set of your Text file has headers, then you have to check this field.  

Step 2:

In case, if you had selected the “Delimited” button in the earlier step, then it is the time to indicate the delimiters in your data such as commas, tabs, semicolons, etc. You can even specify the consecutive delimiters in the data to be as one.

Further in this step, you can indicate the character if the text values are covered in a special set of characters such as single or double quotes. Do you know these characters are known as “Text qualifiers” that can help in indicating the set of values to be counted as one? For instance, “Scott, Steve” is considered as a single value, whereas a comma delimiter separates both words.

Once the conversion is done, at the bottom of the screen a preview of how your data is affected in the sheet will appear. In this step, you can identify widths for all columns if you had selected the “Fixed Width” button in the earlier step. If you click at some useful pointers on the scale, you can bring in a new column break in the preview window.

The column break is represented with a line having an arrow. To move a line break, you will have to drag it and if you want to remove it, just double click on it.

Step 3:

Once you are done specifying the values, now you should specify the data format for all columns. It’s up to you whether you need the column to be in the default format that the Text Import Wizard has set for you or you may want to set the format to be General, Text, or Date.

To select the format you need, just select a column from the preview window. To remove a selected column, just choose the last radio button saying, “Do not import column”.

By pressing the “Advanced” button, a dialog box of the Advanced Text Import Settings will pop up.

From this dialog box, you will find options to specify advanced formatting. For instance, to specify what decimal or separators have been used in the text file, you may use the Advanced Text Import Settings. It is because they must be compatible with the regional settings of your computer.

Click on the Finish button once you are done with all the settings for the imported text data.

Clicking on the finish button will pop up the Import Data dialog box.

From this box, you can then choose where you need the data of your text file imported. You have to choose or type in a reference to the cell if you need to import this data into the current worksheet. On the other hand, if you need it to open in a new worksheet, then choose the radio button next to “New Worksheet.”

Now, click on the OK button and the file will start importing to the designated location in Excel.

Using the Direct File Open to Convert a Text or CSV File into Excel

In Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016, you will see all the steps are similar to importing a TXT or CSV file into Excel.

Go to the Excel spreadsheet that is needed to have the data and click on the Data tab.

Choose the “From Text” option given in the Get External Data group.

Choose the TXT or CSV file that is needed to convert and click on the Import option.

Now, choose “Delimited”. As you know a delimiter is just a new way that explains you TXT file has tabs or the CSV file has commas to separate and group the data.

Choose the Next option.

In the Data preview field, choose the delimiter that helps in grouping the data in a separate column. Basically, you have to choose “Tab” while converting a TXT file to Excel spreadsheet and “Comma” while converting a CSV file.

Also, note that selecting the “Space” option could split a single column into multiple columns at times when the header has more than one word.

Now, click on the Next option.

Choose “General”.

Click on the “Finish” button.

Select “Existing Worksheet” and add “=$A$1” to the field. It will make sure that data starts in Row 1, Column A of the spreadsheet. Having a blank row in the sheet could lead to a file import error.

Click on the OK button.

Click Save.

There are several spreadsheet programs you can choose from these days, yet most people use Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Those who feel more comfortable using Excel swear by it, while those who love Sheets prefer its features and menus. So, what can you do to bridge the gap between the two programs?

This article will go into depth on:

• How to convert Google Sheets to Excel
• How to open the file in Excel

We will also examine whether the functions from one spreadsheet software work in the other. Read on to master this important part of collaborating on spreadsheet programs.

Why Sync Google Sheets to Excel?

If you’re working in a large organization, there are several reasons why you would want to convert Google Sheets to Excel and vice versa.

Here are a few of the most common reasons to save a Google Sheet to an Excel file:

• People in your team may prefer one spreadsheet software over the other.
• Team members do not wish to be a part of the Google ecosystem.
• Policies dictate that you have to send in work as an attachment rather than a link.
• One software doesn’t have the functions that your company needs.
• Sheets lose their performance when working with larger spreadsheets which is why the company needs the responsiveness of Excel.
• Sometimes it’s easier to import a .csv file into Google Sheets, then copy the .xlsx file to Excel to work with it.

How to Convert a Google Sheet to Excel

Thankfully, Google Sheets lets you download your spreadsheets in a .xlsx file. Microsoft Excel supports this file type. So you’ll never have to make a definitive decision about which spreadsheet program is better.

Here are the steps you need to follow to convert Google Sheets to Excel:

1. Open the spreadsheet you wish to download to your computer.
2. Click on File in the top bar. This will open a dropdown menu containing a list of options.
3. Here, click on Download. This will open another sub-menu allowing you to choose the file format. We aim to download the file in a .xlsx format.
4. In the menu, click on Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)

This will download the file to your computer. You can usually find the file in the download folder of your web browser.

How to Save Google Sheets as Excel Using Google Drive

If you’re working on Google Sheets, your data is automatically backed up to Google Drive. If you don’t have access to Sheets, you can also download the file from there.

Here are the steps you need to follow to export Google Sheets to Excel:

1. Open Google Drive in your browser.
2. Click on My Drive and scroll down to find the name of the Google Sheets file. Alternatively, you can also search for the name in the search bar at the top of the screen.
3. Right-click on the file, which will show a pop-up menu. Click on Download, and the file will download onto your computer locally.

If you follow the above to learn how to download Google Sheets into Excel, then you just click to open the downloaded file in your Windows or macOS file browser.

Do the Functions From Sheets Work in Excel?

Although the functionality of both Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets is similar, there are many incompatible functions in either software, which means importing the spreadsheet file into either software is bound to break some functionality.

Here are some of the formulas that are incompatible between Excel and Google Sheets:

• ADD
• ARRAYFORMULA
• CONCAT
• CONTINUE
• COUNTUNIQUE
• DETECTLANGUAGE
• DIVIDE
• EQ
• FILTER
• GOOGLEFINANCE
• GOOGLETOURNAMENT
• GOOGLETRANSLATE
• GT
• GTE
• IMAGE
• IMPORTDATA
• IMPORTFEED
• IMPORTHTML
• IMPORTRANGE
• IMPORTXML
• JOIN
• LT
• LTE
• MINUS
• MULTIPLY
• POW
• QUERY
• SORT
• SPARKLINE
• SPLIT
• TO_TEXT
• TO_PERCENT
• TO_DOLLARS
• TO_DATE
• UMINUS
• UNARY_PERCENT
• UNIQUE
• UPLUS

If your spreadsheet uses any of these functions, you should look to remove the formula or replace it with one which is compatible with Excel.

How to Open a Google Sheets File in Excel

There are multiple versions of Microsoft Office that you can use. These include Office 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010.

The latest release is Office 365, which works on a subscription-based model. Office 365 works online, whereas older versions of Office work on your computer locally. We will be working on Office 365 for this example.

But if you’re using older versions, right-click on the file, which will open a menu. Here, click on Open with and then choose Microsoft Excel. This will open Excel on your computer. There you will be able to access the file normally.

To open the downloaded Google Sheets file in Excel for Office 365, follow these steps:

1. Open Microsoft Excel on your browser. If you have Excel downloaded on your computer, open it there.
2. On the main screen, click on Upload. This will open the local file browser of your operating system. There, navigate to the locally stored file.
3. Select your file and click on Open. This will open a small window in the middle of the screen where you can see the file upload progress.

Once done, Excel will open your file, and you can make changes to the file like you normally would.

How to Save Excel as Google Sheets

Downloading your spreadsheet from Excel follows a similar format as it would if you were to download it on Google Sheets. When using Microsoft Office 2019, 2016, 2013, and 2010, the files will be saved locally to your PC. However, on Office 365, the file is synced to Onedrive, so you will have to download it locally.

Here are the steps you need to follow to do this:

1. In your Excel spreadsheet, click on File. This will open the main sidebar menu.

1. Click on Save As in the main options. This will open a sub-menu.
2. There, click on Download a Copy.

This will download the .xlsx file to your computer. This file can be found in the Downloads folder of your browser.

How to Open an Excel File in Google Sheets

Here are the steps you need to follow to open an Excel file in Google Sheets:

1. Head over to Google Sheets in your browser.

1. Click on the File icon. This will open a new window allowing you to choose the file.

1. We wish to upload our locally stored file, which is why we will be using the Upload option.
2. There, you can drag and drop the file, or you can click on Select a file from your device.
3. This will open your local file browser. Head over to the file and click on Open.

This will start loading the file into Google Sheets. Once uploaded, the file will open, and you can make changes like usual.

Compatibility Issues When Using Excel Files in Sheets

Although you can load the Excel file into Google Sheets, note that Sheets lacks many of the advanced features that Excel offers, which is why you are bound to face some compatibility issues. Here are a few of them:

• You can not import password-protected Excel files into Google Sheets.
• Google Sheets will ignore any links to other spreadsheets in the file.
• Google Sheets does not support power query, PowerPivot, and other data modeling features of Excel.
• If your Excel file has VBA macros, these won’t have support in Google Sheets. Instead, you can write code in AppScript when working in Google Sheets.

If your Excel file uses any of these functions, find an alternative to those as they won’t work in Google Sheets. If you upload the file into Sheets, they might be deleted or lose functionality.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Open Google Sheets in Excel?

Here’s how to transfer Google Sheets to Excel:

1. Open Microsoft Excel on your computer.
2. On the main screen, click on Upload. This will open the local file browser of your operating system.
3. Navigate to the locally stored file.
4. Select your file and click on Open. This will open a small window in the middle of the screen where you can see the file upload progress. Once the upload is complete, the file will be loaded in Excel.

How Do I Change a Google Sheet to .xlsx?

1. Open the spreadsheet you wish to download to your computer.
2. Click on File in the top bar. This will open a dropdown menu containing a list of options.
3. Here, click on Download. This will open another sub-menu allowing you to choose the file format.
4. In the menu, click on Microsoft Excel (.xlsx). The file will then be downloaded to your computer.

How Do I Convert Multiple Google Sheets to Excel?

After selecting the Google Sheets file, click on Add another source file. Choose additional files from My Drive. Select the source tab. The tab should have the same name as the initial source. Click on Finish and Save.

Wrapping Up

Learning to import and export a spreadsheet file into Excel and Sheets can be necessary as it allows you to easily collaborate with your team members no matter what spreadsheet software they use. We hope this article helped you better understand how to save a .xlsx file in Google Sheets and import it into Excel.

Now that you know How to Convert Google Sheets to Excel, you may want to learn more.

Check out some of these related guides to boost your spreadsheet skills:

• How to Add a Google Sheet to a Google Doc
• Google Sheets Notifications: How to Turn On, Edit & Remove
• The Best Google Sheets Add-Ons
• How to Share Only One Sheet in Google Sheets