# Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel and Libre Office Calc.&#x20;

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:&#x20;
  * &#x20;“comma separated values”  and “tab separated values”: &#x20;
* 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.&#x20;