How to Import a Bank CSV into Excel
Double-clicking a CSV lets Excel guess at every column, and it sometimes turns dates into text or drops leading zeros. Importing it gives you a preview and control.
Steps
- In Excel, open a blank workbook and go to Data > From Text/CSV (Get Data > From File > From Text/CSV in some versions).
- Select the CSV file. Excel shows a preview and detects the delimiter. Make sure it shows Comma.
- Check the date column in the preview. If it looks wrong, choose Transform Data and set that column's type to Date using the right locale.
- Choose Load. The data lands as a table you can sort, filter and total.
- Save the workbook as .xlsx so your formatting and formulas are kept. CSV files only store plain values.
Good to know
- If you made the CSV with RowSmith, you can skip this entirely: Download Excel gives an .xlsx file that's already split into columns.
- A CSV in RowSmith's Standard columns layout uses YYYY-MM-DD dates, which Excel recognizes in any locale.
Starting from a PDF statement?
Converts text-based PDF bank statements to CSV or Excel in your browser. Your file is never uploaded. Always review the output before using it. Scanned PDFs aren't supported. Convert a statement PDF
Questions
Why do my amounts show as text?
Usually a currency symbol, a thousands separator or a trailing minus sign. Set the column type to Decimal Number in the import preview, or clean it with Find and Replace.
Can I import several months into one sheet?
Yes. Import each file, then copy the rows under one another, or use Data > Get Data > From Folder to combine files with the same columns.
RowSmith is an independent tool and is not affiliated with any bank or software company named on this page.
Converting is free. RowSmith Pro ($9/month or $59/year) adds suggested Schedule C categories, saved cleanup rules and monthly category totals.