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Thread ID: 105465 2009-12-03 03:12:00 CSV file, to spreadsheet, sort by date Morgenmuffel (187) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
836047 2009-12-03 03:12:00 Ok I have a CSV file

It has around 31000 rows and i need to sort it by date
The dates are stored in the US date format MM/DD/YY

11/16/09
11/15/09
11/15/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
12/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09


So I import the CSV into Excel or OpenOffice,

The numbers come out like the above some left aligned, some right aligned


11/16/09
11/15/09
11/15/09
11/14/09
11/14/09
-12/11/09
-11/11/09
-11/11/09


the ones where the day is the 13th or greater are left aligned whereas if the day is the 12th or lower it is right aligned

I have added the hypen before the last 3 to demonstrate the alignment

So I try to set the correct formatting
I highlight the date column
I select format cells
I set the language to english (US)
I set the format as Date
Press enter

and the alignments don't change

And then I try to sort the spreadsheet by date - and it doesn't work
Morgenmuffel (187)
836048 2009-12-03 03:30:00 Ok I have a CSV file

So I import the CSV into Excel or OpenOffice,


You sure you are not "opening" the csv with Excel or OOO?

For Excel, start with a blank worksheet and "import" your csv (from the Data menu). You will then get the Data Import wizard asking you questions about the delimiters, format etc. and you can choose MDY for the format on your date column.
fred_fish (15241)
836049 2009-12-03 04:03:00 You sure you are not "opening" the csv with Excel or OOO?

Doh, that was my problem. I followed your instructions and it worked perfectly

A zillion thank yous
Morgenmuffel (187)
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