I recently saved a list from another software program into excel. The
original format was csv or txt, i can remember. when i resaved the worksheet
i saved it into excel format and no formatting changed. when i reopened the
file all the data that was in my rows which has 12 columns of data in
individual cells all are now packed into the first colum. i don't know what
happened and how to seperate the data into individual cells again.

Step 1 is make a backup copy of your file so you don't lose data while
figuring out the best way to do this.

You may be able to use (on the Excel menu) Data Text to Columns.
This function takes a single cell full of data and parses it into
columns according to parameters you select. This can be dicey, though,
because your data may differ from row to row.

Can you return to the other software package, and export the data
again? If you can specify CSV (comma separated values) output, the
commas will assist in importing the data into a sprdsht.

Dave O
Eschew obfuscation