A LibreOffice Calc CSV import goes through the Text Import dialog, where you choose the character set, the separator, how numbers are detected and a type for each column. For a bank statement CSV, pick UTF-8, the comma separator, Detect special numbers, a date order that matches the file, and Text for account numbers.
Opening a CSV so the Calc Text Import dialog appears
The Text Import dialog opens when you open a .csv file in Calc with File > Open. It shows a preview of the data and every option that decides how the text becomes cells. If the file opens straight into a sheet with no dialog, the dialog has been switched off, and you can bring it back.
The LibreOffice help page on text import explains both cases. Choose File > Open, set the file type to Text CSV if Calc does not detect it, and open the file. The dialog appears unless someone unticked "Always show on import" during an earlier import. In that case, tick "Edit filter settings" in the File Open dialog to see it once more.
Two other paths lead to the same dialog:
- Sheet > Insert Sheet from File, which puts the CSV into a new tab of a workbook you already have open.
- Paste Special of unformatted text, which shows the same options when you paste a block of comma-separated text.
Opening the CSV by double-clicking it in your file manager also works when Calc is the default program for .csv files. The dialog still appears, but it is easy to click OK out of habit. Slow down on that first screen, because once Calc has read a column as the wrong type, re-importing is usually faster than repairing it.
Which character set should a Calc CSV import use?
Use UTF-8 for most CSV files made in the last decade, including files from web apps and converters. Character set, sometimes called encoding, is the rule that maps the bytes in the file to letters. Pick the wrong one and accented names and currency symbols turn into strings like é or a question mark in a box.
The Character set list sits at the top of the dialog. The preview updates as you change it, so you can test quickly. Look for a payee with an accent, a pound or euro sign, or a curly apostrophe, and switch until it reads correctly.
If UTF-8 garbles the text, the file is probably in an older Windows encoding. Western European (Windows-1252) is the usual candidate for files exported by older desktop software in English-speaking and Western European countries. A file that looks fine under both is plain ASCII, and either setting gives the same result.
The Language box next to it is a different setting with a confusingly close purpose. It controls how numbers are read, not how characters are decoded. The section on Detect special numbers covers it.
Separator choices in the Calc Text Import dialog
Choose "Separated by" and tick only the separator your file uses, which for most CSV files is the comma. Leave Tab, Semicolon, Space and Other unticked unless the preview shows the file needs them. Keep the double quote as the string delimiter, so text fields that contain commas stay in one cell.
The help page lists the options in this group:
- Fixed width splits by character position. Statement CSV files almost never need it.
- Separated by with Tab, Comma, Semicolon, Space and Other. Several can be ticked at once, which is the cause of many split payee names.
- Merge delimiters combines consecutive separators and removes the blank fields between them.
- Trim spaces strips spaces from the start and end of each field.
- String delimiter is the character wrapped around a field that contains the separator.
Two of these deserve caution on financial data. Merge delimiters looks tidy, but a statement CSV often has an empty debit or credit field on every row. Merging the two commas around an empty field shifts every later value one column left, so a credit lands under Debit. Space as a separator cuts "ACME SUPPLY CO" into three cells. Trim spaces, on the other hand, is usually safe and helpful.
Files from European software often use semicolons, because the comma is their decimal mark. The preview tells you at once: everything in column A means the separator is wrong.
Detect special numbers and the import Language in Calc
Tick Detect special numbers when the file holds dates, because without it Calc converts only plain decimal numbers. The LibreOffice help says that with the option off, Calc detects only numbers in decimal notation, which may include thousands and decimal separators, and imports the rest as text. Dates are part of "the rest".
With the option on, Calc tries to read dates, times and formatted numbers into real values. That is what you want for a statement, as long as Calc reads them the right way, and the Language setting decides that.
Language sets the number and date conventions used for the import. Left at Default, Calc uses your global language setting. Change it when the file comes from a different region: a file with 1.234,56 amounts and day-first dates needs a language such as German, while a United States file needs English (USA). The setting applies to this import only.
There is also a separate option for scientific notation, and it matters for reference numbers such as 12E45, which Calc would turn into very large numbers. The help page says it can be switched off only when Detect special numbers is off. With dates detected, protect a reference column by setting its type to Text.
If one column follows a different convention from the rest, do not fight it with Language. Set that column's type instead, which the next section covers.
Calc column types for statement CSV fields
Column types override the general rules for one column at a time. Click a column heading in the preview at the bottom of the dialog and pick a type from the Column type list. Calc offers Standard, Text, Date (DMY), Date (MDY), Date (YMD), US English and Hide.
Per the LibreOffice help, Standard lets Calc decide, Text keeps the field exactly as written, the three date types fix the day, month and year order, US English reads numbers in US style whatever the Language box says, and Hide skips the column.
The table below is an example of settings for a typical statement CSV. The file and its values are made up.
| CSV field | Example value | Column type | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 03/04/2026 | Date (DMY) or Date (MDY), to match the bank | Fixes the day and month order whatever the language |
| Description | ACME SUPPLY, INC | Standard | Quoted, so the comma stays inside the field |
| Debit | 1,250.00 | US English | Reads the comma as thousands even under a European language |
| Credit | (empty) | US English | Same rule as Debit |
| Balance | 8,912.40 | US English | Keeps the running balance numeric |
| Account | 00123456 | Text | Keeps the leading zeros |
| Internal ID | 7f3a2c | Hide | Not needed in the sheet |
Choose types after setting the separator, because the preview columns only line up with the real fields once the separator is right. Before clicking OK, click through each column once more and confirm its type.
What does a Calc CSV import get wrong without warning?
The errors that show no message are a swapped day and month, lost leading zeros, columns shifted by Merge delimiters, and formulas run from text. Each produces cells that look normal. You find them only by checking values against the source or against the statement's totals.
Swapped dates. Under Standard, 03/04/2026 becomes a valid date in either March or April depending on Language. Both look fine. Sort by date and look for rows out of order, or set the date type explicitly.
Leading zeros. Account numbers, sort codes and check numbers like 000412 become 412 under Standard. Set those columns to Text.
Shifted columns. A few rows with an amount under the wrong heading usually means Merge delimiters was on, or a description contained an unquoted comma. Re-import with Merge delimiters off.
Formulas from text. The dialog has an Evaluate formulas option. With it ticked, any field beginning with an equals sign runs as a formula. Leave it off for data you did not create. A description can start with "=" by accident, or by design in a file from an unknown source.
Long files. A CSV with many years of transactions imports fine but can make the sheet slow to scroll and recalculate. A big source file is also slow to produce in the first place; why some PDF conversions take longer explains what drives that time for long statements.
A quick total check catches most of these. Sum the debit and credit columns and compare with the totals printed on the statement.
Saving imported CSV data out of LibreOffice Calc
Save the imported data in a spreadsheet format as soon as it looks right, because a CSV cannot keep column types, formulas, formats or more than one sheet. Use File > Save As and pick ODF Spreadsheet (.ods) or Excel 2007-365 (.xlsx). Calc warns you when you save in a format other than ODS; that warning is expected.
Which of the two to pick depends on who else will open the file. ODS is LibreOffice's own format; XLSX is what Excel users expect. The comparison of ODS vs XLSX for statement files covers the trade-offs. If a colleague has no desktop Excel, they can still view an XLSX or the original CSV in a browser, as the guide to opening a CSV in Excel online shows.
Keep the original CSV untouched in a separate folder. If you later find a type was wrong, you can import it again with better settings instead of repairing the spreadsheet.
If your starting point is a PDF statement rather than a CSV, FastBankConvert is being built to produce the CSV for you, with date, description, amount and balance in separate columns. It is getting ready to open; use Get started to hear when trial conversions are available.