The Easy Way to Convert an Excel File to a .DAT File

Download Article

Learn how to turn an Excel CSV file into a .DAT file

Written by Nicole Levine, MFA

Last Updated: April 19, 2025 Tested

Download Article

• Converting to .CSV
|
• Converting the .CSV to .DAT

|Show more |Show less

This wikiHow teaches you how to convert a Microsoft Excel file (.XLS) to the .DAT format on a Windows PC. You’ll begin by converting the .XLS file to .CSV (comma separated values) format, and then you can convert to .DAT in an app like Notepad.

Quick .XLS to .DAT Conversion Steps

1. Open your .XLS document in Excel.
2. Navigate to File > Save as....
3. Change the Save as type drop-down to CSV (Comma delimited(*.csv).
4. Save the file in your desired location.
5. Open the .CSV file in Notepad and navigate to File > Save as....
6. Change the Save as type drop-down to All Files (*.*).
7. Save the file as "[filename].DAT" where [filename] is your desired file name.

Steps

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Converting to .CSV

Download Article

1. 
   1
   Open Microsoft Excel. It’s in the Microsoft Office group of the All Apps section of the Windows/Start menu.
2. 
   2
   Click the File menu. It’s near the top-left corner of the screen.
   Advertisement
3. 
   3
   Click Open.
4. 
   4
   Click the file you want to convert. The file will open in Excel.
5. 
   5
   Click the File menu.
6. 
   6
   Click Save as….
7. 
   7
   Navigate to the folder where you want to save the file.
8. 
   8
   Click the “Save as type” drop-down menu. A list of file types will appear.
9. 
   9
   Select CSV (Comma delimited)(*.cvs). This will create a file that can be converted to .DAT format.
10. 
    10
    Type a name for the file. It goes into the “File name” field. If you want to accept the current name you can skip this step.
11. 
    11
    Click Save. A confirmation message will appear.
12. 
    12
    Click OK. The .CSV file is saved and ready to be converted.
Advertisement

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Converting the .CSV to .DAT

Download Article

1. 
   1
   Press ⊞ Win+E. This opens the file explorer.
2. 
   2
   Navigate to the folder where you saved the .CSV file. Don’t click the file once you open the folder, just bring it onto the screen.
3. 
   3
   Right-click the file to convert.
4. 
   4
   Select Open with…. A list of apps will appear.
5. 
   5
   Click Notepad. The file will open in the Notepad app.
6. 
   6
   Click the File menu. It’s near the top-left corner of Notepad.
7. 
   7
   Click Save As….
8. 
   8
   Click the “Save as type” drop-down menu. It’s below the “File name” field. A list of file types will appear.
9. 
   9
   Select All Files (*.*). Choosing this option allows you to specify your own file extension.
10. 
    10
    Rename the file with .DAT at the end. For example, if the “File name” field currently says Book1.txt, change it to Book1.dat.

    • It doesn’t matter whether the letters in .DAT are capital or lowercase.
11. 
    11
    Click Save. The original file is now saved in the .DAT format.
Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Tips

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!