Troubleshooting tables in Excel, Numbers and CSV
A table can arrive in a spreadsheet looking wrong even when every character was read correctly. These are the usual causes, and how to fix each one.
Most of these problems aren't about scanning at all: they happen whenever a CSV is opened by double-click, or text is pasted into a sheet, and the spreadsheet guesses what the values mean. Find what you see in the table below.
| What you see | Usual cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Everything is in column A | The CSV uses a different separator than your Excel expects | CSV opens in one column |
| 00123 became 123, a barcode became 4.00638E+12 | Excel converted codes to numbers on open | Leading zeros and barcodes disappear |
| SUM gives 0, numbers sit on the left | The numbers are stored as text | Numbers stored as text |
| 4,50 stays text, or 1.500 turns into 1500 | Decimal comma and decimal point mixed up | Decimal comma vs decimal point |
| 1-2 became 1 Feb, or 03/04 reads the wrong way | Excel guessed a date, in your region's order | Dates wrong in Excel |
| é or Ä… instead of é or ą | The CSV was read with the wrong text encoding | Garbled accents in a CSV |
| A table copied from a photo pasted into one column | Live Text copies text, not cells | Live Text table pastes into one column |
| Excel's “Data from Picture” is missing or fails | Account, version or photo problems | Excel “Data from Picture” missing or not working |
All troubleshooting guides
- CSV opens in one columnEverything in column A? Why Excel doesn't split some CSV files, and four fixes for Windows and Mac, plus a free fixer that runs in your browser.
- Leading zeros and barcodes disappearExcel turns 00123 into 123 and long barcodes into 4.00638E+12. Why it happens, how to stop it, and what you can and can't recover.
- Numbers stored as textSUM gives 0, numbers sit on the left with a green triangle: how to turn text into real numbers in Excel and Numbers, and why scans and pastes cause it.
- Decimal comma vs decimal pointWhy Excel treats 4,50 as text, or turns 1.500 into 1500, and how to convert numbers between decimal comma and decimal point without retyping.
- Dates wrong in ExcelExcel turns 1-2 into 1 Feb and reads 03/04 the wrong way round. Why it happens when you paste or open a CSV, how to stop it and how to repair it.
- Garbled accents in a CSVą, ü or é show up as Ä…, ü or é when Excel opens a CSV. Why it's an encoding problem, and how to open or fix the file properly.
- Live Text table pastes into one columnLive Text copies the words of a table, not its cells, so a paste lands in one column. How to rebuild the columns, with a free tool that runs in your browser.
- Excel “Data from Picture” missing or not workingWhy Excel's Data from Picture is missing, retired on some work PCs, greyed out or garbles a table, how to fix it, and an offline alternative with no account.
Free tools
Two small tools run entirely in your browser — the file or text never leaves your device.
- CSV fixer: separators, accents and ExcelFix a CSV that opens in one column or shows garbled accents. Runs in your browser; the file never leaves your device.
- Paste to columns: rebuild a pasted tableTurn text copied from a photo (Live Text) back into rows and columns for Excel or Numbers. Runs in your browser.
Avoiding the problems in the first place
Export or save as Excel (.xlsx) when you can: an .xlsx file says which cells are numbers and which are text, so nothing is guessed when it opens. A CSV is plain text, and the spreadsheet decides what each value is — in your region's format. QuickScan's Excel files keep codes with leading zeros, long codes and dates as text, and store plain amounts as numbers; its CSV files are written for the region your iPhone is set to.
On a computer? Point your iPhone's camera at the code to open QuickScan in the App Store.
3 free exports, then a one-time unlock. No subscription.