Opening csv files in Excel with long alphanumeric codes

Hi Hamish, thanks for your query. Import the CSV file into Excel as a text file using the Data tab and the From Text tool. Obviously set the delimiter as a comma but set the format of the incoming column with the code in as Text. That should prevent the problem from occuring.

Basically, Excel does not like displaying long numbers and will try to reformat long numbers (including mobile phone numbers in some cases) into scientific notation. I think it's only doing this on those codes with numbers in and I'd be surprised if it's doing it to a mix of alpha and numerical characters. Try the solution and let me know if you encounter any further problems.

Hope this helps,

Anthony