Keep account numbers and long IDs intact in Excel
Updated 9 October 2026 · EasyPsyTools
Identifiers are usually text
An account number such as 00123 is an identifier, not a quantity. Treating it as a number produces 123. Long identifiers can also lose digits when a spreadsheet interprets them numerically. Keep those columns as text when the exact character sequence matters.
Use the safe Excel export
Choose your CSV in CSV to Excel & repair, check the columns and select Download Excel. The default XLSX export writes values as text. If you need arithmetic on an amount column, open Export options and select only that column as numeric; leave account numbers and identifiers as text.
Try the difficult sample
More options contains a synthetic CSV with 00123, 00045 and 123456789012345678. It also includes a name containing a comma, an embedded newline, duplicate rows and an extra cell. Repair the final sample row to four cells before downloading: export stays blocked while a wrong-width row remains. Check the identifiers in the preview and in the downloaded workbook. The formula-like value =1+1 is written as text by default, rather than executed.
Repair only what you understand
Select the correct separator and encoding if automatic detection is wrong. Review flagged rows before changing them. Removing exact duplicates or trimming spaces changes the data and should be deliberate. The preview is limited to the first 50 data rows; issues and the exported file can involve rows beyond that preview.
What cannot be recovered
If the source CSV already says 123 instead of 00123, the missing zeros cannot be inferred reliably. A CSV export also cannot control how every spreadsheet will interpret values on reopening. Use the XLSX download when preservation in Excel is the goal, and compare important identifiers with the original source.