

So numbers with leading zeroes are converted to whole numbers and numbers that are long integers such as phone numbers and UPC code numbers are converted by the spreadhseet application into exponential numbers like 8.01E+09.

Unfortunately, when opening a CSV text file directly into a spreadsheet program like Excel, the data - if numerical - is converted by the program to be shown in a mathematical format.

Fortunately, CSV files have the advantage of being read in a spreadsheet program, which allows the file to be read in organized columns and rows. These text files can be difficult to read as just straight text. A CSV file is nothing more than a text file with its data values separated by commas (hence the name "comma separated values" or CSV). Instead, this is due to the way Excel and other spreadsheet programs open a CSV file and display the data therein.īasically, spreadsheet programs are designed to be used for calculation purposes, so they tend to apply mathematical formats to numbers when the CSV file is opened directly into the program. To be clear, the reason these problems occur is not due to the way Shift4Shop creates your export data. Unfortunately, saving the file in your spreadsheet program and re-uploading the CSV data to your store will then permanently change the record(s) to those displayed values.
