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CSV Made with PA Desktop wrong format

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Posted on by CU02080621-5

Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to fetch data from an SQL DB using PA Desktop and putting that data with all the columns in an excel file and have it saved as a CSV.

I made a template excel file that is being used to import the SQL data to but when the desktop app saves the file as a CSV, the format is wrong.

All the columns should have their own field, but the CSV that the desktop app makes shoves all the data and columns into the first rows instead of properly using the columns.

Any idea how I can fix this?

Everything is pushed into column A, it should use all the columns required instead.

When I do these actions manually, and save it as a CSV myself, the format is correct.

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Power Automate Desktop

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eetuRobo 4,589 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at

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CSV means comma-separated value. So as long as you have the commas to separate columns it should be fine I think. Its just visually shows it weird in excel for some reason.
I've noticed that when using Write to CSV file -action and opening the csv file with Excel I need to change the data with Text to Columns like so:
First select all the rows (Ctrl + A)

Next and Finnish

But if I open the csv file (without doing any formatting to it manually) with Launch Excel in PAD it opens it correctly.

If I open the file manually after the Write to CSV file:

When Launch Excel opens the file it looks good:

It could be about regional settings. Maybe Excel doesn't format it because its not sure if its decimal or something.
CU02080621-5 on at

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It does indeed open fine when I open the CSV in PA Desktop, problem is this flow is going to pull the whole DB multiple times a week and upload it to a remote server, so I have no idea if the upload will succeed....
Weird
eetuRobo 4,589 Super User 2026 Season 2 on at

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It should work since csv is just data with comma separated values. So as long as your data is separated by commas and the file format is .csv it is correctly formatted csv. Even if your Excel doesn't always show it the right way.

So I think it should be fine.
Have you tested it at all with one file and checked if the server takes the data correctly?
CU02080621-5 on at

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I will try, problem is that if it goes wrong, a few hundred users would have their accounts suspended 😄
But I checked and if the file is wrong or can't be read, it'll just be ignored.
Will update later, thanks all!
Agnius Bartninkas Most Valuable Professional on at

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You do not need to use Excel to create a CSV file. Just use the Write to CSV file action that is specifically designed to do this. You might need to define the separator under the "Advanced" options of the action.
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CU02080621-5 on at

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I fixed it by having an action "replace" that simply replaces all the kommas to semicolon's from my csv table variable, and then write the changed variable to a csv file.
Maybe not the simplest way but it works so 🙂