Any way to prevent Excel from forcing .TXT extensions?

Rhizomorph · 10-26-2009, 10:52 AM

Office 2007 / Vista x64.

I work with a number of different 'custom' file formats that are all tab-delimited text, but they differ in their structure and thus all have different file extensions. Excel can open them, and if I just hit "Save" then it writes the data back to the file with the exact same name. HOWEVER, if I do a "Save As..." and select Tab-delimited Text as the format, it ALWAYS changes the file name to .TXT, even if I explicitly give it an extension. This means that every time I have to then go and manually rename the file to remove the .TXT extension.

Is there any way to tell Excel "don't change the extensions of these types of files"??? Can I add my own type of file format somehow so that it appears in the list of available options? This is getting beyond annoying.

Thanks.

jurni1126 · 11-02-2009, 07:46 PM

Click on the Office Button, go to Save As..., then choose the format you would like to save your documents as. If you don't see what you are looking for, then go to "Other Formats." You will see two drop down menus. Click on the bottom arrow and then choose the appropriate format after "Save as type..." I hope this helps.

Rhizomorph · 11-04-2009, 05:59 AM

Yes, I know how to select Tab-delimited text as the format. The problem is when I do that, Excel automatically appends ".txt" to the end of the file name, even if I explicitly give it another extension. I want to save my files in Tab-delimited text format but with their own ".XXX" extension without having Excel append .txt every time. The old Excel did not do this.

Worked4me · 11-06-2009, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhizomorph

Office 2007 / Vista x64.
different file extensions. Excel can open them, and if I just hit "Save" then it writes the data back to the file with the exact same name

The question is somewhat rhetorical. "Text (tab delimited)" is when you convert
something from an excel format to a text or a format that is readable by other programs. So Save As will always add the *.txt extension when saving that way.

The best option if you are not saving different version drafts of the work as you go along is to choose the save option. I looked through the registry and didn't find any entries that would allow you to add a custom extension.

10-26-2009, 10:52 AM	#1 (permalink)
Rhizomorph Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Vista x64	Any way to prevent Excel from forcing .TXT extensions? Office 2007 / Vista x64. I work with a number of different 'custom' file formats that are all tab-delimited text, but they differ in their structure and thus all have different file extensions. Excel can open them, and if I just hit "Save" then it writes the data back to the file with the exact same name. HOWEVER, if I do a "Save As..." and select Tab-delimited Text as the format, it ALWAYS changes the file name to .TXT, even if I explicitly give it an extension. This means that every time I have to then go and manually rename the file to remove the .TXT extension. Is there any way to tell Excel "don't change the extensions of these types of files"??? Can I add my own type of file format somehow so that it appears in the list of available options? This is getting beyond annoying. Thanks.

11-02-2009, 07:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
jurni1126 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 4 OS: Vista Home Premium	Re: Any way to prevent Excel from forcing .TXT extensions? Click on the Office Button, go to Save As..., then choose the format you would like to save your documents as. If you don't see what you are looking for, then go to "Other Formats." You will see two drop down menus. Click on the bottom arrow and then choose the appropriate format after "Save as type..." I hope this helps.

11-04-2009, 05:59 AM	#3 (permalink)
Rhizomorph Registered User Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 2 OS: Vista x64	Re: Any way to prevent Excel from forcing .TXT extensions? Yes, I know how to select Tab-delimited text as the format. The problem is when I do that, Excel automatically appends ".txt" to the end of the file name, even if I explicitly give it another extension. I want to save my files in Tab-delimited text format but with their own ".XXX" extension without having Excel append .txt every time. The old Excel did not do this.