Import. Clean. Check.
Start with the symptom you see. Each guide includes a small file and a clear result to check.
Choose a reading path
Work through the Friday dispatch handoff → Match orders to warehouse scans, then deliver a close list and an exception list.
- Excel: import safely. Choose the delimiter and encoding, then preserve leading zeros and long identifiers.
- Excel: clean only what your rules allow. Review spaces, dates, amounts and duplicates.
- Excel: reconcile and deliver. Compare lists, resolve category lookups, reconcile group totals and check a fresh CSV export.
- Optional Python path. Use the advanced file tools below when you need to inspect multiline records, map changed column order, split uploads or compare changed fields.
Start here: import safely
Excel workflows for garbled text, missing zeros, long identifiers and one-column imports.
01Fix garbled text in a CSV file
Choose the right encoding and bring names and descriptions back into focus.
Keep the zeros at the start
Import product codes as text, so 00127 stays 00127.
Protect every digit in a long ID
Keep long identifiers intact before Excel treats them as numbers.
Fix a CSV that opens in one column
Choose the delimiter from the file, then check field boundaries before loading.
Clean and check in Excel
Work through the relevant problem, then use the export guide before delivery.
01Clean unwanted spaces without changing codes
Distinguish edge spaces, repeated internal spaces and nonbreaking spaces.
Remove duplicates with a clear business key
Separate repeated rows from legitimate repeat orders, and account for blank keys.
Resolve mixed date text without guessing
Use a declared source format and hold ambiguous or impossible dates for review.
Convert text amounts with known separators
Keep zero, missing values and ambiguous amounts distinct while reconciling totals.
Compare two lists using exact identifiers
Find absent keys, case differences and duplicate reference keys in both directions.
Add categories without ambiguous lookups
Return a category only for a unique key with a populated reference label.
Reconcile totals and missing data by group
Keep text amounts, missing regions and real zeros visible in a regional summary.
Check a CSV export before sending it
Reimport the delivered file and verify identifiers, Unicode text and totals.
Advanced: local CSV file tools
CSV structure and delivery workflows. The quoting guide includes a verified Excel for Mac Power Query load; running the downloadable Python helpers requires Python 3.9 or newer.
01Combine CSVs when column order changes
Map columns by exact header name, preserve identifiers and report an absent field before combining exports.
Read CSV fields with commas, quotes and line breaks
Load quoted CSV records in Excel for Mac Power Query and verify the exact multiline note.
Split CSV uploads by complete records
Repeat headers, preserve multiline fields and reconcile every part before uploading.
Find field changes between two exports
Match unique identifiers and separate added, removed, changed and unchanged records.
Start with a real example
Small, original datasets make each problem easy to reproduce.
Check the result
Expected values help you spot changes that are easy to miss.
Know the limits
Version notes separate observed results from general guidance.