Many datasets are stored in formats other than Excel’s XLSX format. One of the most common storage formats used across the data science world is the CSV or comma-separated values format.

A CSV file is a text file containing data where the columns of data are separated by commas. Here’s a sample of what a CSV file might look like if you open it up in a text editor:

month,sales,costs
Jan,1000,500
Feb,2000,800

Here’s what this same CSV file looks like interpreted as a table:

Other Delimiters

CSV files typically use commas as delimiters, the symbol that indicates where one column ends and another begins. However, in some cases this doesn’t work very well. For example, in some countries the , is used as a decimal marker. In these countries, using a , as a delimiter will cause problems, since Excel can’t tell the difference between , as a decimal and , as a delimiter. In cases like this, it’s better to use another symbol, like the semi-colon ;, as a delimiter. Even with a different delimiter, the format is still called CSV.

Excel provides an import tool that lets us select which symbol is being used as a delimiter. We’ve placed a slideshow illustrating this process in the learning environment. Note that some of the buttons and menus might look slightly different depending on your operating system and version of Excel.

When you’re ready to practice this yourself, get started on the instructions below!