Also enclosing the "number" in single quotes will force it to remain text.

Dave Peterson wrote:

Yep.

Excel sees the .csv file and does what it wants with the data.

You have a few options:
1. Don't save the file as .csv (use .xls -- a normal workbook)
2. Rename the .csv file to .txt and when you open that file via File|Open,
you'll be able to specify the field the way you want (text??).
3. Reapply the number formatting each time you open the .csv file.


Chris wrote:

I do that, and save teh file. When I open the file again, it goes back to the
formula.

"JE McGimpsey" wrote:


You're seeing scientific notation format. You could change the format to:

Format/Cells/Number/Custom 000000000000




In article ,
Chris wrote:


I have to enter the date in a certain way, yyyymmddhhmm.
I enter 200704301524 into a cell. I save the file in .csv. When I open the
file again, the # is changed to a formula, 2.00704E+11
How do I get it to not do that? I have tried saving it as a text, and it
still doesn't work.
Thanks,
Chris