Opening Files
When you open a text file using the [Microsoft Office Button] or [CTRL-O] Excel 2007 opens a Text Import Wizard dialog. This dialog allows you to identify the file's encoding by setting the "File Origin" field. The following chart lists test results observed using various file encodings.
| Encoding | Byte Order Mark | Test Data | File Origin Setting Used | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| cp850 | abc-àèìòù© | 850 : Western European (DOS) | Pass | |
| windows-1252 | abc-àèìòù© | 1252 : Western European (Windows) or Windows (ANSI) |
Pass | |
| UTF-8 | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | 65001 : Unicode (UTF-8) | Pass | |
| UTF-8 | UTF-8 BOM | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | 65001 : Unicode (UTF-8) | Pass |
| UTF-16LE | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | none found | Fail | |
| UTF-16 | LE | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | Windows (ANSI) | Pass |
| UTF-16BE | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | none found | Fail | |
| UTF-16 | BE | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | none found | Fail |
Note: Even though you can open a UTF-8 file with Excel you will not be able
to re-save it in this format. You can only save it in one of the supported text
file types mentioned in the next section. Alternatively you can save the file
as an Excel spreadsheet.
When you open a text file by dragging it from a Windows Explorer window and dropping it into an open Excel 2007 window the Text Import Wizard dialog is not displayed. Instead Excel 2007 appears to use an algorithm to determine the correct encoding.The following chart lists test results observed when dragging and dropping files that use various encodings.
| File Encoding | Byte Order Mark in File | Data in File | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| cp850 | abc-àèìòù© | Fail |
|
| windows-1252 | abc-àèìòù© | Pass | |
| UTF-8 | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | Fail | |
| UTF-8 | UTF-8 BOM | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | Pass |
| UTF-16LE | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | Fail | |
| UTF-16 | LE | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | Pass |
| UTF-16BE | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | Fail | |
| UTF-16 | BE | abc-àèìòù©-뮻뮼뮽 | Fail |
Saving New Files
When saving new text files (.txt, .csv, or .prn) Excel 2007 allows you to select one of the following encodings.
| Save as type: | Uses this Encoding | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Text (Tab delimited)(*.txt) | active ANSI code page |
|
| Text (MS-DOS)(*.txt) | the system's active OEM code page |
|
| CSV (Comma delimited)(*.csv) | the system's active ANSI code page |
|
| CSV (MS-DOS)(*.csv) | the system's active OEM code page |
|
| Formatted Text (Space delimited)(*.prn) | the system's active ANSI code page |
|
| Unicode Text (*.txt) | UTF-16 (LE BOM) | |
| HTML File | the system's active ANSI code page |
|
Note that a UTF-8 file type is not available.