Importing an External Data File in Excel

Importing data into an Excel worksheet is helpful if you want to use Excel to view, process and/or analyze data stored in another file. For example, many people store data as tab-delimited text files or comma-separated values (csv) files because they can be opened from practically any computer.

1. Windows: From the Data command tab, in the Get External Data group, click FROM TEXT
   Macintosh: From the Data menu, select Get External Data » Import Text File...
   The Import Text File/Choose a File dialog box appears.

2. Windows: From the Files of type pull-down menu, select All Files
   Macintosh: From the Enable pull-down menu, select All Files
3. Navigate to and select the file to import
4. Windows: Click IMPORT
   Macintosh: Click GET DATA
   The Text Import Wizard appears.

5. Select Delimited or Fixed Width
   NOTES:
   The Text Import Wizard automatically selects the display type that it thinks best fits your data.
   A delimiter is a character that separates pieces of data and was specified when the data was created.
6. Click NEXT
7. If your data is delimited, change and/or confirm the delimiters and click NEXT
   NOTE: The Text Import Wizard automatically selects the delimiter that it thinks is being used (usually Tab). However, you can specify a different delimiter such as, Semicolon, Comma, or Space.
8. Click FINISH
   The Import Data dialog box appears.

9. To place the data in a new worksheet, select New worksheet
   To place the data in the existing worksheet
1. Select Existing worksheet
2. Click COLLAPSE DIALOG 
3. Select the cell where the imported data will begin
4. Click RESTORE DIALOG
10. Click OK
    The data appears in the designated location.

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