To open a CSV file on Android as a proper table, long-press it in your Files app, choose Open with, and pick a spreadsheet app such as Google Sheets or Excel rather than a text viewer. Then check two things: that each value sits in its own column, and that long numbers have not become E+ notation.
Why does a CSV file open as plain text on Android?
A CSV file is plain text: each line is a row and commas separate the values. Android does not know you want a grid, so a tap may hand the file to whatever app last claimed text files, such as a document viewer or a notes app. What you see then is the raw text, commas and all.
An example line from a converted bank statement looks like this in a text viewer:
2026-09-04,"CITY WATER, AUTOPAY",-48.20,1203.55
Nothing is wrong with the file. The four values (date, description, amount, balance) are all there. The quotation marks around the description tell a spreadsheet app that the comma inside "CITY WATER, AUTOPAY" belongs to the text rather than starting a new column. A text viewer shows the quotes literally because it does not interpret them. The fix is choosing the app, not repairing the data.
Opening the CSV in an Android spreadsheet app
Send the file to a spreadsheet app on purpose instead of tapping it. Long-press the file in your Files app or file manager, pick Open with or Share, and choose Google Sheets or Excel. If neither appears, install one from the Play Store first.
The steps on most phones:
- Open the Files app (Files by Google or your maker's file manager) and go to Downloads.
- Long-press the CSV, for example an example file named
checking-2026-09.csv. - Tap the three-dot menu, then Open with.
- Pick Sheets or Excel. Some phones ask "Just once" or "Always"; choose Always if you open CSV files often.
Google's help page on importing files into Google Sheets lists .csv among the formats Sheets accepts, but its import settings, such as choosing the separator, are described for the computer version. On the phone you get the app's automatic reading of the file, which works for ordinary comma-separated files and less well for unusual ones.
Keeping CSV columns apart on an Android phone
If every value lands in column A, the file uses a separator the app did not expect, usually a semicolon. CSV files made in countries that write decimals with a comma often separate fields with semicolons instead. A phone app that assumes commas will see one long value per line.
| Symptom on the phone | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Whole line in column A | Semicolon or tab separator | Re-export as comma-separated, or open on a computer and pick the separator |
| Description split across two columns | Comma inside an unquoted description | Re-export with text quoted |
| Accented letters show as odd symbols | File not saved as UTF-8 | Re-export as UTF-8 CSV |
| Amounts left-aligned, total is zero | Numbers stored as text, often with currency symbols | Remove symbols, or convert the column to numbers |
When the CSV came from a converter, the cleanest fix is often to download the Excel version instead. An .xlsx file carries its columns and cell types with it, so the phone app has nothing to guess. FastBankConvert is built to offer Excel, CSV and JSON from the same conversion, so you would pick .xlsx for the phone and CSV for a budgeting app. It is getting ready to open; the home page explains how it will work.
Why do long numbers in an Android CSV show as E+ values?
Spreadsheet apps read any string of digits as a number, and a number with many digits is displayed in scientific notation, such as 4.53E+15. Worse, spreadsheets store numbers with about 15 significant digits, so a 16-digit card or reference number can lose its last digits for good once it is treated as a number.
On a statement CSV this hits reference numbers, check numbers with leading zeros, and long transaction IDs. Amounts are rarely affected, since they are short.
What to do:
- Do not save the CSV from the phone app after opening it. Saving writes the damaged values back into the file.
- Widen the column first. Sometimes the app shows E+ only because the column is narrow, and the full value is still there.
- Format the column as plain text before typing or pasting long IDs, in apps that let you.
- Use the .xlsx version if you have one. A converter can mark ID columns as text in an Excel file, which a CSV has no way to do.
When an Android phone is the wrong place to edit a CSV
A phone is fine for reading a CSV and checking a few values. It is the wrong place for imports with settings, bulk fixes across hundreds of rows, or anything you will hand to accounting software. Mobile spreadsheet apps hide or drop features that those jobs depend on.
The specific gaps are covered in the guide to Excel mobile app limitations for converted statements, including what Power Query and import options look like on a phone. If your goal is a monthly file that stays tidy, paste the rows into a prepared bank statement Excel template on a computer, where the formulas and formats are already set.
One more case: the data is not in a file at all, only in a screenshot or photo. A CSV cannot help there. The method for copying a table from an image on iPhone with Live Text shows the iPhone side of that problem, and the same rule applies on Android: check every pasted number against the picture.