How to Convert Text Files to Excel

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: June 17, 2019 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to convert all the text contents of a text file to an Excel spreadsheet file. You can convert text files like doc, docx, docm (Microsoft Word), and other simple text formats like txt and rtf. Using an online file converter will give you the best results with all text formats. You can also try Microsoft Excel's integrated Text Import Wizard to create a new spreadsheet from a text file.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:
Using an Online Converter

1
Open https://www.coolutils.com/online/TXT-to-XLS in your browser. Type or paste this URL into your browser's address bar, and press ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return on your keyboard.
- Alternatively, you can use a different online file converter. Just search "Text to Excel Converter" for more converter options.
- You can use online converters in desktop and mobile internet browsers.
2
Click the + Select files button. This is a blue button below the "Upload TXT file to convert" heading at the top. It will open your file navigator.
3
Select the text file you want to convert. Click your text file in the file navigator window, and click Open on the bottom-right corner.
4
Select Excel under "Convert to." You can find this section below the "Set convert options" heading.
5
Click DOWNLOAD CONVERTED FILE. This is a blue button at the bottom of the file converter. It will upload your text file, convert it to Excel's native ".xlsx" format, and download the converted file to your computer.
- If you don't have a default folder set for your browser downloads, you'll be prompted to select a saving location for your converted file.
6
Open the converted file on your computer. Find and double-click the converted Excel file on your computer. This will open your converted text file in Microsoft Excel, or in your default spreadsheet program.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:
Using Text Import

1
Open Microsoft Excel on your computer. The Excel icon looks like a white "X" in a green square, and a spreadsheet icon in the background. You can find it on your Start menu on Windows or in your Applications folder on Mac.
2
Click the Data tab on the toolbar. You can find this tab above the toolbar ribbon at the top of your spreadsheet.
3
Click From Text on the toolbar ribbon. This button looks like a blank sheet icon with a tiny text document in front of it. You can find it on the Data toolbar.
- This will open your file navigator, and allow you to select the text file you want to import.
4
Select the text file you want to import. Click on the text file you want to convert to Excel, and click the Get Data or Open button in the file navigator pop-up.
- This will open the Text Import Wizard in a new pop-up window.
5
Select Delimited in the Text Import window. You can find it at the top of the Text Wizard pop-up.
- Most text files contain delimited data. This means your data entries are separated by tabs, commas, or a different character, rather than fixed-width spaces with columns.
- If the data in your text file is separated into columns with fixed-width spaces in between, you can select Fixed width here.
- You can see a preview of your text import at the bottom of the import window.
6
Click Next in the Text Import window. This will take you to the next step.
7
Uncheck the
Tab option. You can find it under the "Delimiters" heading in the upper-left corner of the Text Import window.
- If this option is checked, the Import Wizard will automatically detect the spaces in your text as tabs, and separate it into columns.
8
Check the
Comma option. This option is also under the "Delimiters" heading on the top-left.
- Optionally, you can also leave this option unchecked if you don't want to separate any of the data entries in your text. For example, if you're importing a list, you can leave all the delimiters unchecked here.
9
Click Next in the Text Import. This will take you to the final step.
10
Click Finish. This will import all the text in your text file to the spreadsheet.
- If you're prompted to select a column for your import, select the cell where you want your imported text to start on the spreadsheet, and click OK.
11
Click the File tab. This button is in the upper-left corner of your screen. It will open a drop-down menu.
12
Click Save As on the "File" menu. This will allow you to save your imported text as an Excel spreadsheet file.
13
Select a location to save your file. Click a folder in the "Save As" window to save your new spreadsheet file.
14
Click Save. This will save your imported text to the selected folder as an Excel file.