I receive files with a txt extension that are in csv format but cannot open in either pages or numbers. Tapping on the file gives me ‘Send to’ which only offers email or inappropriate apps. If I choose to save, I have no idea where it is saved to. I thought Apple was supposed to be intuitive!
iPad mini 5, iPadOS 18
Assuming that you are using the Apple Mail App to access your email, open the email that has the attachment that you wish to save.
Identify the attachment that you wish to save; touch-and-hold the attachment. This should open a small preview window with an associated action menu:
From the action menu, select Save to Files. This will open a new window where you can navigate to where you wish to save your attachment. You can save to a folder in iCloud, locally on your iPad, or to a path on any of your linked cloud services.
Having saved your file, you can open the Files App - and navigate to where you saved the attachment. At top-right of the Files App window, tap the menu icon - and from the menu select View Options. Ensure that Show All Filename Extensions has been enabled:
Having found the saved attachment, touch-and-hold to expose the associated action menu. From the menu, select Rename; manually edit the filename extension from txt to csv.
This of course assumes that the file is, as you have indicated, a csv file with a txt extension.
OK, I’ve got the csv extension sorted but how do I open it? There is no such option on the action menu. If I try the Quick Look it just offers to send somewhere, fine if I want email it. I just want to open.
[Edited by Moderator]
cloth ears wrote:
OK, I’ve got the csv extension sorted but how do I open it?
Really? The screenshot you provided does not indicate you have this sorted.
As LotusPilot suggested:
”Having found the saved attachment, touch-and-hold to expose the associated action menu. From the menu, select Rename; manually edit the filename extension from txt to csv.”
In your case, the you should also remove the characters after “.txt”. You will be left with “C2087RT.CSV”.
And, of course, you require an application capable of reading .CSV files such as Apple’s Numbers or Microsoft Excel.
“In your case you should also remove the characters after “.text”. I did that and could open the file. Why on earth does Apple add the date and prevent it from opening? One thing I found odd was that as .csv it opened in Numbers but each line was all in column 1. If I left as .txt it opened in Pages in a table with all the data in the correct column! It will open in correct columns in Excel and Libre Office Calc on PC.
To open your csv file, use the Apple Numbers App. If you haven't already installed it, you can download it for free from the Apple App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/app/numbers/id361304891
The Numbers App is very powerful - and has its own User Guide:
Numbers User Guide for iPad - Apple Support
Other Apps can also be used to open csv files, such as Microsoft Excel. With Excel, you can open but not edit the file unless you have a Microsoft 365 subscription. Other third-party Apps may have to be purchased.
You can edit the full filename as you see fit - but you need to understand that changing the filename extension indicates the file type.
If you add the csv extension and the file is not a properly formatted csv (i.e. comma-separated values), the file may not open as expected.
cloth ears wrote:
Why do[es] Apple add the date?
What makes you assign blame to Apple? The date may well have been added by the sender’s (or perhaps your) email service provider.
If Apple added the date, this would be a universal behavior in Apple’s infrastructure. I, for one, do not observe this behavior. Nor do we see hundreds or thousands of reports and questions about it in these Communities.
That may be the answer, it was sent from an Android phone. Thank you both, at least I can make sense of the data away from a PC now. Looking back at the screenshot I can now realise that the icon is greyed out 🙄.
How are you receiving these files? Would this be an email attachment - or something else?
Email attachment.
Unfortunately it doesn’t open correctly in Numbers. Why do Apple add the date? This prevents it from being opened.
I have understood file extensions significance since 8.3 files names in MSDOS on floppies. Just found it curious that 2 other spreadsheets opened as csv with no problem but Numbers couldn’t.
You’re welcome. Glad we worked it out.
Enjoy your Apple gear.
How to open txt or csv files on iPad
