What is a CSV file, and why does Excel change it?
A CSV file (.csv) is a plain-text table: each line is one row, and commas separate the columns, which is why the name means comma-separated values. Banks, online stores, email services and school systems export CSV because almost any program can read it. Publish Media Software (PublishMedia) opens one as a printable page that shows every value exactly as the file wrote it, free to view.
Leading zeros, long ID numbers and dates stay exactly as written.
Opening and viewing a CSV are free; a paid plan adds page changes and PDF export.
- Leading zerosKept
- Header rowEvery page
- Wide tablesLandscape
What you can do with a CSV file in PublishMedia
See values as written
00123 stays 00123, and long IDs never become 1.23E+15.
Columns that fit
Every column is sized to its content automatically.
Gridlines for reading
Rows and columns print with lines, like a ledger.
Header on every page
The header row repeats at the top of each printed page.
Landscape for wide tables
Tables too wide for portrait print sideways instead.
Tab-separated files too
Open .tsv files the same way as .csv.
Working with spreadsheets? Start here
Three guides for the files that usually travel with a CSV.
What is a CSV file?
A CSV file is a plain-text file that stores a table, one row per line, with commas between the columns; a value that contains a comma is wrapped in double quotes. It holds values only: no formatting, formulas, colors or extra sheets. RFC 4180 (2005) documents the common form, and Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice Calc all open it.
Three ways to start with a CSV in PublishMedia
Create an account at publishmediasoftware.com, with no credit card, then choose a starting point.
Open a .csv export
Drag in the file your bank, store or school system gave you, or browse to it.
.csv or .tsv, up to 250 MB
Choose a CSVDress up the list
Start from a print-ready template when the list needs to become a flyer or program.
Browse templatesType a short table
Begin with an empty page and add a table for a sign-up sheet or roster.
New blank pageHow PublishMedia lays out a CSV for print
PublishMedia treats a CSV as something to read and print, not a sheet of formulas.
Exact values, no guessing
Nothing is converted: ZIP codes keep leading zeros, account numbers keep every digit, and dates stay in the file’s own format.
Printable from the start
Gridlines, content-width columns, a repeated header row and landscape pages for wide tables make the printout easy to follow.
Page changes on a paid plan
Add a title, logo or note above the table, then export a print-ready PDF.
Not a spreadsheet program
No formulas, sorting or filtering, and no saving back to .csv or .xlsx. For those, use Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers or LibreOffice Calc.
Turning a list into something people will read?
A CSV of names or dates can become a printed flyer or program.
Templates for printed pages
Flyers, programs, bulletins and tickets laid out for print, all on the paid plans.
Popular categories
How to open and print a CSV file without Excel
Four steps in PublishMedia that keep every value just as the file has it.
Sign up
Create a Free plan account at publishmediasoftware.com; no card is asked for.
Add the CSV
Drag the .csv or .tsv onto the start screen. It opens as a spreadsheet page.
Check the values
Scroll through the rows; leading zeros, IDs and dates appear unchanged.
Print or export
Use Print Preview, then on a paid plan export a print-ready PDF.
6 programs that open CSV files, and how each treats your data
Ranked for people who need to read or print a CSV accurately, noting where each runs, its price and what it does to your values.
As of October 2026, six common programs that open CSV files are Publish Media Software (PublishMedia), Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc, Apple Numbers and any text editor, such as Notepad or TextEdit. CSV (comma-separated values) is a plain-text table format whose common form is documented in RFC 4180 (2005). When Excel opens a CSV directly it can drop leading zeros, show long numbers in scientific notation and read some text as dates; importing with Data › From Text/CSV and choosing Text for those columns avoids it. Some countries’ programs write semicolons instead of commas. PublishMedia opens CSV and TSV files at no cost to view, keeping every value as written, and exports PDFs on paid plans.
1. Publish Media Software — best for printing values exactly as written
Opens .csv and .tsv in a modern browser on Windows, Mac, Chromebook, Linux and iPad, with gridlines and a repeating header row. Reading the file costs nothing; PDF export is $99 a year or $9.99 a month. Limit: no formulas, sorting or filtering.
2. Microsoft Excel — best for crunching the numbers
Microsoft’s paid spreadsheet for Windows and Mac opens a CSV with a double-click and adds formulas, sorting and charts. Limit: opened directly, it can drop leading zeros, turn long numbers into scientific notation and read some text as dates.
3. Google Sheets — best browser spreadsheet at no cost
Bring the CSV in with File › Import to view, sort and share it in a browser at no cost with a Google account. Limit: it can convert values too unless you untick Convert text to numbers, dates, and formulas.
4. LibreOffice Calc — best desktop choice at no cost
The free spreadsheet for Windows, Mac and Linux shows a Text Import dialog where you pick the separator and set columns to Text. Limit: you have to download and install LibreOffice first.
5. Apple Numbers — best on a Mac, iPad or iPhone
Apple’s free spreadsheet app opens CSV files on a Mac, iPad or iPhone and turns them into a table you can work with. Limit: there’s no Numbers app for Windows, Android or Chromebook.
6. Notepad or TextEdit — best for seeing the raw file
Notepad on Windows and TextEdit on a Mac come with the computer and show a CSV as plain lines of text, commas and all. Limit: there are no columns, so a wide file is hard to read.
What it costs to open and print a CSV here
Reading a CSV in PublishMedia costs nothing: the Free plan opens unlimited files and holds each for 7 days, emailing you before it’s removed. A title, logo or note on the page and a print-ready PDF need All-Access at $99 a year (recommended) or Monthly at $9.99, which you can cancel anytime; both include every template, saved projects and unlimited storage. If you need formulas or sorting, Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice Calc are the better tools.
Free Starter
$0
Open and view unlimited Publisher, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, and picture files free — stored for 7 days, then deleted automatically. Editing and export are on the paid plans.
Start freeAll-Access
$99/yr
Everything unlocked — full editing, every template in the library, and unlimited storage.
Monthly
$9.99/mo
All the same features, billed monthly — cancel anytime.
Spreadsheet and file guides
CSV file questions, answered
What does CSV stand for?+
CSV stands for comma-separated values, because commas separate the values in each row of the table. Each line of the file is one row, and the first line usually holds the column names. The extension is .csv, and the file is plain text that any computer can read.
Can you show me an example of a CSV file?+
A small CSV file looks like this, one row per line: Name,City,Member ID on line 1; "Lopez, Ana",Austin,00123 on line 2; and Ben Cho,Boston,04567 on line 3. Each comma starts a new column. The quotes around "Lopez, Ana" keep that comma from splitting the name into two columns, and a quote inside a quoted value is written twice.
Is a CSV file the same as an Excel file?+
A CSV file is not an Excel file: a CSV is plain text holding only values, while an Excel .xlsx file is a workbook that can hold formulas, formatting, column widths, charts and several sheets. Excel opens both, which is why CSVs often show an Excel icon. Save as .xlsx to keep your work in Excel; save as CSV to hand data to another program.
Why does Excel change numbers and dates when it opens a CSV?+
Excel changes values because it guesses each column’s type when it opens a CSV directly: 00123 becomes 123, a 16-digit number turns into 1.23457E+15, and text such as 3-4 can become a date. A CSV stores no column types, so Excel has nothing else to go on. To stop it, import with Data › From Text/CSV and set those columns to Text.
Why did the last digits of my long numbers turn into zeros?+
Excel keeps only 15 significant digits in a number, so a 16-digit card or account number read as a number loses its last digit, which becomes 0. Saving the file again from Excel makes the loss permanent. Import that column as Text instead, or view the original CSV in PublishMedia or a text editor, where every digit is still there.
Why does my CSV open with everything in one column?+
Everything lands in one column when the file uses a different separator than your program expects, most often semicolons, which programs in countries that use the comma as a decimal mark write instead of commas. In Excel, use Data › From Text/CSV and choose Semicolon as the delimiter. LibreOffice Calc asks for the separator every time a CSV opens.
Why do accented letters look garbled in my CSV?+
Garbled letters, such as é showing as é, mean the CSV was saved as UTF-8 but opened as an older encoding. In Excel, import it with Data › From Text/CSV and set File Origin to 65001: Unicode (UTF-8). When you save from Excel, choose CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) so names with accents come through.
How do I open a CSV file on my iPhone or Android phone?+
On a phone, tap the CSV attachment to preview it, or open it in Numbers on an iPhone, or in the Google Sheets or Excel app on either kind of phone. PublishMedia opens it in a phone’s browser too, as a printable table, and on a paid plan you can edit the page and export a PDF there.
How do I make a CSV file?+
Make a CSV by saving a spreadsheet in that format: in Excel, choose File › Save As and pick CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited); in Google Sheets, choose File › Download › Comma-separated values (.csv); in Numbers, choose File › Export To › CSV. Excel saves only the active sheet, and every formula is replaced by its result.
Will PublishMedia sort, filter or recalculate my CSV?+
PublishMedia doesn’t sort, filter or calculate, because it opens a CSV as a printable page rather than a working spreadsheet, and it doesn’t save back to .csv or .xlsx. Use it to read and print the data exactly as written. For sorting or totals, use Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers or LibreOffice Calc first, then open the result in PublishMedia to print.
Publisher retires October 2026
Get a short guide to moving off Microsoft Publisher — opening your Publisher files online and creating new documents.