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Pinellas County School District
TECHNICAL TIP SHEET SERIES: WHAT EDUCATORS NEED TO KNOW
page 12 of 17
Step 33
To save the edited Excel file and convert it to a .csv
formatted file, you must save it as a .csv file through
Excel. The work flow for saving a file varies
depending on your version of Excel.
Variation 1: On the menu bar, click File Save As.
See Illustration 29, top view.
Variation 2: For Excel version 2010 which does not
have a menu bar (i.e. File ... Edit ... View ... Insert ...
Format, etc.), click on what is known as the
Microsoft Office button (a.k.a. “the bubble”). This
button is located in the extreme upper left corner
of the Excel window, then in the drop-down menu,
click Save As, then click Other Formats.
See Illustration 29, bottom view.
Step 34
In the next Excel pop-up window, which many
people call the Save As window, locate the
Format: or Save as Type: (Excel version 2007) box.
Using the small drop-down arrow, select the
following option:
MS-DOS Comma-Separated (.csv)
Note: Your options may be worded a bit differently such as:
Comma-Separated (MS-DOS) (*.csv). DO select the one that includes
“MS-DOS” rather than “Windows” as the former is more universal.
See Illustrations 30 and 31.
Note: In the Save As window, select the location in your hard drive
where you would like to save the .csv file. Suggestion: Desktop. In
this way, it will be easier (i.e. fewer clicks) to locate the .csv file that
will be needed for the School Messenger portion of this work flow.
Illustration 30: In Excel, above, the file Format: box
contains many choices. For a sampling of the available
file type selections and a potential trap you need to
avoid, see Illustration 27, right. Note how the narrative in
the “Description” area explains the file choice selected in
the Format: box. Note: If you see a “Compatibility check
recommended” caution statement, just ignore it.
Illustration 29: Top view, Variation 1 -- To save an Excel file in a different format, from
the menu bar, click the File Save As sequence to trigger the pop-up window
shown in Illustration 30, below left, to appear. Bottom view, Variation 2 -- Click the
Microsoft Office button located in the upper left corner of the Excel window, then in the
drop-down menu, click Save As to trigger the pop-up window shown in Illustration 30,
below left, to appear.
Illustration 31: In Excel, right, the
correct file format selection is
“MS-DOS Comma Separated (.csv)”.
An Excel file formatted with this
choice will allow you to create a
custom School Messenger list.
POTENTIAL TRAP: You must
go through these steps in Excel
to create a true .csv file as this
cannot be done by merely typing
a new extension -- the right-most
characters in a file name after the
DOT separator. In this case,
changing the extension by typing
new characters does not change
the file’s internal code, it only
changes the way the file name
looks.