Important data formats: CSVs, Excel and Google Sheets

The most common data formats that you will come across are CSV (.csv) and Microsoft Excel (.xlsx). These are not the only ways to store data, however.

• .xls and .xlsx can be opened with Excel, Google Sheets or any other spreadsheet software. Excel files are a proprietary format though, and can only be read in spreadsheet applications.

• .csv and .tsv are structured data formats:

  • “comma separated values” and “tab separated values”:

• this means each value in the dataset is separated by either a comma or a tab, and that the data itself is stored in a plain text format. This means CSVs can be read in a text editor and are at less risk of file corruption or misreading.

• Data can also be formatted for database software, such as the popular SQL format.