Exporting a CSV from Microsoft Excel

To import spreadsheet data with GravityImport, export it from Microsoft Excel as a CSV file first. The format you pick matters: GravityImport expects UTF-8 encoded CSV files, and the wrong encoding can garble special characters such as accents and symbols.

1. In your Excel document, go to File, then Save As #

Choose where to save the file, then open the file format dropdown.

2. Choose the CSV UTF-8 format #

Select CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (.csv). This format keeps special characters intact and is exactly what GravityImport expects. It is available in Excel 2016 and later, including Microsoft 365. If your version of Excel doesn’t offer it, choose Comma Separated Values (.csv) instead.

3. Save the file #

Click Save. If Excel warns that some workbook features can’t be kept in CSV format, continue: a CSV holds plain data only, which is what the import needs. Only the active sheet is exported, so repeat the export for each sheet you want to import.

Garbled characters after importing? #

If accented letters or symbols look wrong after the import, the CSV was saved with a different encoding. Re-export using the CSV UTF-8 format and import again. An older version of this guide suggested exporting as UTF-16 text; GravityImport now expects UTF-8, so use CSV UTF-8 instead.

Import your file into Gravity Forms #

With the CSV exported, follow Getting started with GravityImport to run the import.