Microsoft continues to add new features to its web apps that were previously available only on their desktop versions. Today, it announced that the Excel web app can now export its spreadsheets in the popular CSV file format.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the CSV format, it stands for Comma-separated values. As the name suggests, this is a text file format that separates the information in that file with commas. It"s used and supported quite a bit in a number of spreadsheet programs.
In a post on the Microsoft 365 Insider blog, the company says that Excel web users can launch a new spreadsheet, or open an existing one, and then click on the File menu. They can then click on the Export option, and then they can click on Download this sheet as CSV (.csv) to complete the export process. This new feature is now live for all Excel web users:
Microsoft also offers some possible uses for Excel files that are exported into CSV files:
- Store structured data in a simple, human-readable format that can be easily backed up and retrieved.
- Transfer data between a spreadsheet app and a database management system.
- Exchange simple structured data between different apps that might not be directly compatible, such as a CRM.
The company recently announced that it had added support for syncing up data from Microsoft Forms quizzes and polls over to Excel on the web. It also added improvements to the Catch Up feature in the recent past for the Excel web app, along with its Word and PowerPoint web versions.
In October 2023, Microsoft announced a number of new additions to the Excel web app. They included a new Insert Function Dialog, along with Parentheses Coupling, Value Preview, and support for monospaced font for editing formulas.