How to save an excel file as a comma-delimited CSV

Our  Bulk Upload Tool only accepts files with comma delimiters. If you’re having trouble uploading a CSV file to manage your users, it could be because your data is separated by semicolons instead of commas.

In countries like the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, the default separator is a comma. However, in many European countries, the comma is reserved for the decimal symbol, and a semicolon is often used as the list separator. This results in a semicolon-delimited CSV file instead of a comma-delimited one.

Follow these steps to ensure your CSV file is correctly delimited by commas:

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Changing the CSV Separator on Windows 10 

1. Open Control Panel: Access the Start Menu and select Control Panel.

2. Regional and Language Options: Open this dialog box by searching for it in Control Panel.

3. Adjust Settings:

   • In the Regional Options tab, select Customize or Additional Settings (on Windows 10).
   • Locate the "List separator" field and replace any existing character with a comma (,).

4. Confirm the Change: Click OK twice to apply and exit.

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Changing the Default CSV Separator on Windows 11

If you're using Windows 11 and need to ensure that your CSV files are comma-delimited, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings:

   • Click on the Start menu and select Settings, or press Windows + I on your keyboard to open Settings directly.

2. Navigate to Time & Language:

   • In the Settings menu, select Time & Language, then choose Language & Region.
     
     
     
     
     

3. Open Regional Format Settings:

   • Scroll down to the Region section and click on Administrative language settings. This opens the classic Control Panel interface.
     
     

4. Access Additional Settings:

   • In the Region dialog that appears, click on Formats and then select Additional settings at the bottom.
     
     
     
     

5. Change the List Separator:

   • In the Customize Format window, locate the List separator field. Replace any existing character (usually a semicolon in some regions) with a comma ,.
     
     

6. Save Your Changes:

   • Click OK to save the new settings, then click Apply and OK to exit all dialogs.

Your default CSV setting is now configured to use commas, ensuring that any CSV files you save will be comma-delimited.

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Changing the CSV Separator on Mac (Before Sonoma)

1. Open Language & Region Settings: Use Spotlight Search to find Language & Region.
   
   

2. Open Advanced Settings: In the Region settings, click on Advanced.
   
   

3. Update Separator Settings: Ensure that the grouping separator is set to a comma (,).
   
   

4. Save the Changes: Confirm and exit.

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Changing the CSV Separator on Mac (Sonoma)

1. Go to Excel Preferences
   
   
   
   

2. Click the Edit Tab
   
   
   

3. Unmark "Use system separators"
   
   
   

4. Change Decimal separator to , and Thousands separator to .
   

   

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Specifying the Separator Directly in the CSV File

To ensure Excel recognizes your preferred separator, you can specify it within the file:

1. Open a Text Editor: Open your CSV file in any basic text editor, such as Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac).

2. Set the Separator: At the very beginning of the file, add the line:

    

   sep=,
   
   
   
   

3. Save and Open in Excel: Save your changes and open the file in Excel. Excel will recognize the specified comma delimiter and format the file accordingly.

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By following these steps, you can ensure your CSV files are comma-delimited and compatible with our Bulk Upload Tool.