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Sure, now try to open a CSV that has line breaks in some cells (which is something basic and that follows the CSV spec) and tell me if Excel is still cool.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2668678/importing-csv-wi...

It is literally impossible. The best solution is "Import it in Google Sheets and export to Excel format"...

Excel is powerful, but it is not cool at all, the UX of even basic features is awful and some of the most used functions have annoying behaviors (VLOOKUP when the data type of the 2 columns is not exactly the same for example).



>It is literally impossible.

You can do this in Powerquery.

>VLOOKUP when the data type of the 2 columns is not exactly the same for example).

Use XLOOKUP.


> You can do this in Powerquery.

Yeah, pretty sure that having to use an ETL layer before Excel qualifies as "It's literally impossible to do it in Excel".

> Use XLOOKUP.

It's only available after Excel 2019, and the behavior is different. There's also nothing that seems to indicate that it doesn't have the same issue with column types?


> Use XLOOKUP.

Use INDEX and MATCH.


RFC 4180 came too late. I think CSV is more commonly taken to be just a general description of the data, than a reference to a particular standardized spec (I mean it is notorious for ad-hoc implementations, right?).


It sounds like SO isn't really an expert on Excel. The correct answer (Data > From Text/CSV) is sitting at the bottom with 0-1 votes. Most answers are from the early 2010's and outdated.


This does not work even in Excel 2019.

In any case, not supporting when you just double-click a CSV to open it with Excel means that it's not usable for the vast majority of users.

We faced the issue when we were exporting data to customers in CSV format, and "Replacing new lines with '/'" ended up being a preferred solution over having the user perform any action.


Maybe stop using outdated software?


The mainstream support for Office 2019 ends on October 10, 2023 and the extended support on October 14, 2025. It's not outdated software.


Supported doesn't mean current. They'll fix security holes and help paying customers use the software as it is, but that is it. Not introducing new features or backport improvements.


Xlookup exists

CSV of all types can be imported with power query.




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