How to prepare data in Microsoft Excel

On this page some general information is given about how to convert data in a spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel and other spread sheet programs are known to be able to read many data types, however, sometimes this data is interpreted differently than desired. Below are tips to convert/ process data in spread sheets after import and prior to further processing in the Tygron Platform.

Importing text as numbers in the legacy Import Text wizard in Office 2019 and up

Office 2019 and later have limited text import options; you must activate the legacy wizard first.

See the following article on how to activate the legacy text import wizard:Text Import Wizard

Converting text to numbers

If imported Excel columns have numbers aligned to the left, they are likely being interpreted as text. In the following article from Microsoft it is explained how to easily convert columns with text to numbers: Convert numbers stored as text to numbers

Removing spaces and other characters in bulk from ranges of cells

Redundant spaces or characters in imported cells can hinder data interpretation; use 'Find and Replace' to remove them.

How to remove redundant spaces from imported data in a work book or spread sheet:

1. Select the cell (range) affected
2. Select Start
3. Select Edit > Replace
4. Enter a space in the search field
5. Leave the replace field empty
6. Select Replace All

• 
  1. Select the cell (range) affected
• 
  2. Select Start
• 
  3. Select Edit > Replace
• 
  4. Enter a space in the search field
• 
  5. Leave the replace field empty
• 
  6. Select Replace All

See also

• Excel
• Var (Excel)