CSV Integrity Checklist

A practical checklist for checking delimiter, encoding, headers, quoting, row shape, dates, IDs, line endings, and BOM before import or sharing.

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Check structure first

Start with the file shape: headers, delimiter, row count, column consistency, and quoted fields. If the columns do not line up, do not keep editing until the delimiter or quoting problem is understood.

CEESVEE auto-detects common delimiters and lets you override the choice before saving a prepared copy.

CSV delimiters explainedComma, tab, semicolon, pipe, and why extensions can lie.Commas inside fieldsHow quoting prevents embedded commas from shifting columns.

Check text and value preservation

Encoding, date formats, leading zeros, long IDs, and scientific notation are common sources of silent damage. Inspect these before opening and saving in a spreadsheet.

If the file contains customer, payroll, bank, product, or database data, keep the raw export and save a separate prepared copy.

Fix CSV encodingUTF-8, UTF-16, Windows-1252, BOM handling, and garbled text.Preserve leading zerosKeep ZIP codes, SKUs, and IDs as exact text.

Check export settings

Before import or vendor handoff, confirm delimiter, encoding, quote style, line endings, and BOM. These are format decisions, not cosmetic details.

Preserve delimitersSave comma, tab, semicolon, and pipe files deliberately.BOM on or offKnow when a byte-order mark helps or breaks imports.