Importing Text Files of 257 or More Columns into Excel 2000 

If you've tried to open a text file (*.txt) that has 257 or more columns, you've probably seen this message:

When you click OK, Excel displays as much of the data as will fit - 256 columns is the maximum. Data beyond the 256th column isn't loaded into Excel.

This article explains how to import all of a large text file into Excel 2000 and how to refresh the data in Excel when your text file changes. You can use these procedures with smaller text files, too.

How do you get the rest of the data into Excel? A single worksheet is not large enough for data over 256 columns, but you can split the data over two worksheets, or you can bring only the columns you need to work with into Excel.

Should you import the file instead of opening it? If you work with large text files frequently, and especially if you get periodic updates to a text file that always has the same layout, consider importing the text file instead of using the Open command on the File menu. When you import, you can click a button to refresh the range of data that you bring into Excel. Therefore, when you get an updated file, you won't have to repeat the steps of selecting the data and specifying which columns go where.

To import a large text file into Excel by using the Text Import Wizard

There are three steps to the wizard. In Step 1, you indicate what type of file you're importing. In Step 2, you indicate how the data is divided into columns. In Step 3, you set the data format and indicate which columns you want to import. You can access the wizard any time you need to by completing the second and third steps in the following procedure.

1. Click the New button to create a new, blank workbook.
2. On the Data menu, point to Get External Data, and then click Import Text File.
3. In the Import Text File dialog box, locate your file, and then click Import. Excel displays the same Text Import Wizard that you use when you open a text file.
4. In the first step of the Text Import Wizard, click Delimited if your file has characters like commas or tabs separating each column, or click Fixed width if each column contains the same number of characters.
5. Click Next. Decide how you want to import the data.
   • Do you really need to see all of the data? If so, you can import the data into two or more worksheets.
   • Does the file include lots of blank columns? You can import only the columns that contain data.
   • Can you do without some of the data? You can skip the columns you don't need.