# Open CSV in Numbers on Mac, iPhone or iPad - Author: FastBankConvert (https://fastbankconvert.com) - Published: 2026-10-17 - Category: Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice - Canonical: https://fastbankconvert.com/blog/open-csv-in-numbers > Open CSV in Numbers on Mac, iPhone or iPad: delimiter and encoding settings, dates and leading zeros, and saving back to CSV. To open a CSV in Numbers on a Mac, drag the file onto the Numbers icon or use File, then Open. Numbers builds a table from it straight away. If every value lands in one column, select the table and use Adjust Import Settings to pick the right delimiter and text encoding before you edit anything. ## Opening a CSV file in Numbers on a Mac Numbers on a Mac opens a CSV the same way it opens its own files. Drag the CSV onto the Numbers icon in the Dock or the Applications folder, or start Numbers and choose File, then Open. Numbers turns each line of the file into a row and each delimited value into a cell. Double-clicking the CSV in Finder may open it in a different app, such as Excel or TextEdit, depending on which program your Mac uses for that file type. To make Numbers the default, select the file in Finder, choose File, then Get Info, set **Open with** to Numbers, and click **Change All**. Apple's guide to [importing an Excel or text file in Numbers on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/numbers/tan9f3c54bdc/mac) treats a CSV as a delimited text file, and that matters for the next step: the import settings for text files are only available on files Numbers read as text. ## Can you open a CSV in Numbers on iPhone or iPad? Yes. On an iPhone or iPad, a CSV opens in Numbers from the Files app or from the Numbers document browser. The Apple guide cited in this post describes import settings for the Mac version only, so if a file splits wrongly on a phone, fix the delimiter on a Mac or in the file itself. To open one on a phone or tablet: 1. Save the CSV to the Files app, for example from a mail attachment or a download. 2. Open Numbers and browse to the file, or tap the file in Files and choose Numbers if it asks. 3. Check the first few rows before you edit. A CSV that came out of a bank or a converter usually uses commas and opens cleanly. Problems start when the file uses semicolons, which is common in countries that write decimals with a comma. ## Numbers import settings for a CSV that lands in one column When a CSV opens in Numbers with everything in column A, the delimiter was misread. On a Mac, click the table, open the Format sidebar, choose the Table tab and click Adjust Import Settings. The Delimited tab lets you pick the separator, the text qualifier and the text encoding, then rebuild the table with Update Table. Here is a step list for an example file that uses semicolons, with example settings: 1. Click anywhere in the table that Numbers created. 2. In the Format sidebar, click **Table**, then **Adjust Import Settings**. 3. Click the **Delimited** tab. 4. Next to Separate Values Using, clear Comma and select **Semicolon**. 5. Set **Text Qualifier** to the double quote, so a description such as "SMITH; J" stays in one cell. 6. Set **Text Encoding** to Unicode (UTF-8) if names show odd characters such as é instead of é. 7. Leave **Treat consecutive delimiters as one** off for statements, because two delimiters in a row usually mean an empty debit or credit cell that has to stay empty. 8. Click **Update Table**. Apple's guide warns that you cannot adjust import settings after you edit the imported table. If you have already typed into it, close the document without saving and open the CSV again. ## Why do dates and leading zeros change when Numbers opens a CSV? Numbers reads each value in a CSV and guesses its type, so text that looks like a date or a number becomes one. A date written day first can flip to month first, and an account or check number such as 004417 loses its leading zeros. The CSV itself is unchanged; only the table Numbers built from it differs. The common cases: - **Dates.** Numbers interprets dates using your Mac's region settings. A file written in another region's order can swap day and month on every date up to the 12th, which looks plausible and is wrong. [Date formats in the Numbers app](/blog/numbers-app-date-format) covers how to check and fix them. - **Leading zeros.** A value made only of digits becomes a number, and numbers do not keep leading zeros. Format the column as Text and re-enter, or keep the original CSV as the reference copy. - **Long references.** Card or reference numbers with many digits can lose precision as numbers. Treat them as text. Look before you edit. Compare a few rows of the table against the CSV opened in TextEdit, especially the first and last date and any value with a leading zero. If you need to split a combined column after import, for example a date and a description stuck together, [splitting a column in Numbers](/blog/split-column-in-numbers) shows the formula approach Numbers supports. ## Saving a Numbers table back out as CSV To save a Numbers table back out as CSV, choose File, then Export To, then CSV, and pick a location. Export writes the values, not the formatting, so colours, column widths and formulas are lost and only the results remain. Keep the Numbers document as your working copy and treat the CSV as a delivery file. A few checks before you export: - **Formulas.** The CSV holds each formula's result as it was at export time. - **Text encoding.** The export dialog offers encoding options under Advanced Options. UTF-8 is the safe choice for most apps. - **Several tables.** If the sheet holds more than one table, check what the export produced before you send it. If the person receiving the file wants an Excel workbook rather than CSV, export to Excel instead, which keeps more of the layout. [Exporting Numbers to Excel](/blog/export-numbers-to-excel) covers what survives that route. Starting from a PDF statement rather than a CSV adds one step before all this. A [PDF to Excel converter](/blog/pdf-to-excel-converter) produces the file Numbers then opens. FastBankConvert is being built for that job with bank statements, giving you Excel, CSV or JSON, and is getting ready to open; you can join at [Get started](/get-started).