How to automatically open text file in Excel

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Table of Contents Show

Open Text File in Google Sheets
Download Practice Workbook
2 Suitable Ways to Import Text File to Excel Automatically
1. Use From Text/CSV Command to Import Text File to Excel Automatically
2. Utilize File Tab to Import Text File to Excel Automatically
Things to Remember
How do you make a .TXT file open in Excel?
Can Excel open a text file?
How do I open a TXT file in Excel with columns?
How do I open Notepad in Excel?

I would like to create a desktop icon that runs Excel (Office Home and Student 2010), where Excel automatically opens a tab-delimited (.txt) file and displays it (without asking me to confirm the delimited file characteristics). Is that possible?

[The tab-delimited file will be replaced with new data on an unpredicatable schedule, so I always want to start with the current tab-delimited file rather than converting it to an Excel file.]

An alternative way of importing data into Excel from a text file, is to use the Get and Transform Data feature.

In the Ribbon, select Data > Get and Transform Data > From Text/CSV.

Select the file to be imported, and then click Import.
The file appears in a dialog box with the delimiter already automatically selected, and the text divided by Excel according to the data stored in the text file. Click Load to load the data into Excel.

The data now appears in a new sheet in Excel. There are now two new tabs on the Ribbon – Table Design and Query – as well as a Queries & Connections pane appearing on the right-hand side of the screen. This shows that the data is linked to the TXT file and if any data in the TXT file was to change (external to Excel), the data displayed in Excel would change too.

To unlink the imported data from the external TXT file, in the Ribbon, select Table Design > External Table Data > Unlink.

The data is imported into Excel as a table. To convert it to a standard Excel range, in the Ribbon, select Table Design > Tools > Convert to Range.

Both the Table Design and Query tabs on the Ribbon disappear.

Open Text File in Google Sheets

From the File menu in Google Sheets, select Import.

Click Upload, and then click on the blue Select a file from your device button to select the required file.

The name of the file to be imported is displayed under File with the default options available for importing automatically selected.

To change the Import Location, click the drop-down list under Import Location and select the option required.

To change the Separator type, click the drop-down list on the right and select a character to delineate by.

While working with large Microsoft Excel, sometimes we need to import text files to Excel. Importing text files to Excel automatically is an easy task. This is a time-saving task also. Today, in this article, we’ll learn two quick and suitable ways to import text file to Excel automatically with appropriate illustrations.

Table of Contents hide

Download Practice Workbook

2 Suitable Ways to Import Text File to Excel Automatically

1. Use From Text/CSV Command to Import Text File to Excel Automatically

2. Utilize File Tab to Import Text File to Excel Automatically

Things to Remember

Conclusion

Download Practice Workbook

Download this practice workbook to exercise while you are reading this article.

Import Text Files.xlsx

2 Suitable Ways to Import Text File to Excel Automatically

Let’s assume we have an Excel large worksheet that contains the information about several students of Armani School. We will import text files to Excel automatically. To do that, we will apply the From Text/CSV command, and File option. This is an easy task and time-saving also. Here’s an overview of the dataset for today’s task.

1. Use From Text/CSV Command to Import Text File to Excel Automatically

Undoubtedly, importing text files to Excel automatically is an easy task. To import a text file, we will use the From Text/CSV command in Excel. To do that, first, you have to create a text file. After that, follow the instructions below to import text files!

Step 1:

First of all, select a cell where we want to import a text file. For the convenience of our work, we select cell B15. Hence, from your Data tab, go to,

Data → Get & Transform Data → From Text/CSV

After that, a text file named Grade Sheet will appear in front of you. Hence, press the Import option.

Step 2:

As a result, a window named Grade Sheet.txt pops up. From that window, go to,

Load → Load To

After pressing the Load To option, an Import Data window will appear in front of you. From that window, firstly, select the Existing worksheet: option under the Where do you want to put the data? At last, press OK.

After completing the above process, you will be able to import data from text files which have been given in the below screenshot.

Read More: How to Import Text File to Excel Using VBA (3 Easy Ways)

2. Utilize File Tab to Import Text File to Excel Automatically

We can also import data from the text file by using the File tab. This is an easy and time-saving task also. Let’s follow the instructions below to import data from text files in Excel!

Step 1:

First of all, select the File option.

After selecting the File tab, go to,

Open → Browse

Hence, an Open window will appear in front of you. From that window, firstly, select the All Files Secondly, select a text file named Grade Sheet. At last, press the Open option.

Step 2:

As a result, a window named Text Import Wizard – Step 1 of 3 will appear in front of you. From that window, firstly, select the Delimited option under the Original data type Secondly, check the My data has headers option. Thirdly, press the Next option.

Hence, a new window named Text Import Wizard – Step 2 of 3 pops up. From that window, press the Next option.

After that, again, the Text Import Wizard – Step 3 of 3 window pops up. From that window, select the Finish option.

After completing the above process, you will be able to import data from text files which have been given in the below screenshot.

Read More: How to Open CSV File in Excel with Columns Automatically (3 Methods)

Things to Remember

➜ While a value can not found in the referenced cell, the #N/A error happens in Excel.

➜ If you want to copy data in Excel, simply press Ctrl + C on your keyboard, and to paste the copied data, press Ctrl + V. You can also open a text file using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + O.

➜ Legacy Wizard is available in Excel 2016 or later version.

Conclusion

I hope all of the suitable methods mentioned above to import text files to Excel automatically will now provoke you to apply them in your Excel spreadsheets with more productivity. You are most welcome to feel free to comment if you have any questions or queries.

How do you make a .TXT file open in Excel?

Import a text file by opening it in Excel.

Go to File > Open and browse to the location that contains the text file..

Select Text Files in the file type dropdown list in the Open dialog box..

Locate and double-click the text file that you want to open. If the file is a text file (.txt), Excel starts the Import Text Wizard..

Can Excel open a text file?

1. Open Microsoft Excel 2. Select File > Open 3. In the Open Pop-Up Window, browse to the folder location where you have saved the text file.

How do I open a TXT file in Excel with columns?

The steps to import a TXT or CSV file into Excel are similar for Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016: Open the Excel spreadsheet where you want to save the data and click the Data tab. In the Get External Data group, click From Text. Select the TXT or CSV file you want to convert and click Import.

How do I open Notepad in Excel?

It's at the top-left corner of Excel. Click Open. Select Text files from the file type drop-down menu. Select the text file you want to convert and click Open.