# Generate CSV treating text column as number **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask for Help\ **Created:** [April 29, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/generate-csv-treating-text-column-as-number/86985 "2026-04-29T23:10:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeartwoodTreeCo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/heartwoodtreeco/32/8150_2.png) [@HeartwoodTreeCo](https://community.glideapps.com/u/HeartwoodTreeCo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/generate-csv-treating-text-column-as-number/86985/1 "2026-04-29T23:10:18Z")
I have a basic text column with a few different types of values used as row identifiers. The rows are coming in via integration, and there are good reasons why I’m not using a Row ID column. When I generate a CSV, I’m have some of them turned into scientific notation. And not even accurately! (rounded). For the relations to work in the table into which they will be imported, I need them to stay as-is. Any way to coerce it? The overall scenario is archiving records to a separate app using big tables. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/glideapps/original/3X/e/d/eda43b3a94628a037ea648d59b703674540f749a.png) ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Hager](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/jeff_hager/32/43_2.png) [@Jeff\_Hager](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Jeff_Hager)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 11:22pm UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/generate-csv-treating-text-column-as-number/86985/2 "2026-04-29T23:22:32Z")
Are they actually that way in the CSV file itself, or is the spreadsheet you are using rendering it that way? ---
**Author:** ![HeartwoodTreeCo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/heartwoodtreeco/32/8150_2.png) [@HeartwoodTreeCo](https://community.glideapps.com/u/HeartwoodTreeCo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 12:30am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/generate-csv-treating-text-column-as-number/86985/3 "2026-04-30T00:30:23Z")
Maybe there’s a different way to do this altogether, but my process is use workflows to generate and open the CSV. When I open the CSV in my browser it’s a URL that starts [https://storage.googleapis.com/glide-prod.appspot.com/uploads-v2/5v](https://storage.googleapis.com/glide-prod.appspot.com/uploads-v2/5v)… In Chrome, these CSVs open in a “Basic editor for Microsoft files” with an option to Save as Google Sheets. So it’s more like a glorified file viewer than an actual spreadsheet. The screenshot is from that file viewer. Is there a way to generate and **download** CSVs from Glide and/or inspect the file directly? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Hager](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/jeff_hager/32/43_2.png) [@Jeff\_Hager](https://community.glideapps.com/u/Jeff_Hager)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 12:37am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/generate-csv-treating-text-column-as-number/86985/4 "2026-04-30T00:37:52Z")
I guess it depends on the browser and how those files are served up, but I guess the point I’m getting at is if you can download and view the raw CSV in notepad or some kind of text editor, you should see a bunch of rows of comma separated values. You are viewing it in what I assume is a stripped down version of Excel. Spreadsheets have a habit of guessing the data type of each column and sometimes it gets it wrong. The raw data is correct, but it’s being formatted incorrectly in the viewer. It’s probably correct in the CSV. ---
**Author:** ![HeartwoodTreeCo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/heartwoodtreeco/32/8150_2.png) [@HeartwoodTreeCo](https://community.glideapps.com/u/HeartwoodTreeCo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 12:48am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/generate-csv-treating-text-column-as-number/86985/5 "2026-04-30T00:48:53Z")
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how do I download a CSV that is generated by Glide? It’s not a menu choice in the viewer. ---
**Author:** ![HeartwoodTreeCo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/heartwoodtreeco/32/8150_2.png) [@HeartwoodTreeCo](https://community.glideapps.com/u/HeartwoodTreeCo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 1:19am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/generate-csv-treating-text-column-as-number/86985/6 "2026-04-30T01:19:53Z")
I figured it out! If I click on the link in the Glide data table to highlight it, then right-click, I can save the file locally. Uploading the saved file works beautifully, no formatting applied. 😅 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.glideapps.com/system/32/53398_2.png) [@system](https://community.glideapps.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2026, 1:20am UTC](https://community.glideapps.com/t/generate-csv-treating-text-column-as-number/86985/7 "2026-05-07T01:20:40Z")
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