CSV File Import Issue - Semi-Colon Separators

When customers have contacts in an Excel file and export them to CSV, semi-colons are used as column separators instead of commas. We have seen this mainly occur in French operating systems. It may also happen in languages other than French, but it is not an issue when configured for English.

 

Change Semi-colon Separators to Commas in Windows 11

  1. Click Search.
    1_click_search_2022-12-21_15-02-45.png
  2. Enter the search criteria "control panel," then click Control Panel.
    1_Windows_Control_Panel_2022-12-20_17-23-14.png
  3. Open the Region item.
    2_Open_Region_2022-12-20_17-34-56.png
  4. Open the Formats tab.
    4_Open_the_formats_tab_2022-12-21_14-49-59.png
  5. Click Additional settings.
    5_Click_additional_settings_2022-12-21_14-28-54.png
  6. Open the Numbers tab.
    6_Numbers_tab_2022-12-21_15-12-54.png
  7. Open the List separator drop-down menu, then select the comma option.
    7.1a_Select_the_comma_option_2022-12-21_15-58-04.png
  8. Click OK to close the window.
    7.2_a_Click_Cancel_2022-12-21_16-03-51.png
  9. Click OK to close the window. Skip the remaining steps.
    7.1c_Click_OK_2022-12-21_16-20-10.png
  10. Missing Comma Step: If you saw no comma in the List separator drop-down menu, click Cancel.
    7.2_a_Click_Cancel_2022-12-21_16-03-51.png
  11. Open the Format drop-down menu, then choose English (US) or English (Canada).
    7.2_b_Format_drop-down__select_English_2022-12-21_17-17-24.png
  12. When finished, click OK.
    7.1c_Click_OK_2022-12-21_16-20-10.png

Now, when you save the Excel file to CSV, the separators are commas, allowing the file to import correctly into VanillaSoft.

Note: If you followed the Missing Comma Step, that would change your date and number formats within your Windows operating system. After saving your Excel file into CSV format, you may want to revert that to its original setting.

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