2.14 FAQ-424 How do I import custom date and time data?

Last Update: 4/21/2021

Recent versions of Origin have made import of date-time data much easier, particularly with the addition of the Text/CSV Data Connector, which will automatically handle formatting of commonly-recognized date-time formats.

When your custom date-time format is not automatically recognized by Origin on import, there are a couple of things to note:

  • If your imported date and time data are left-aligned in the Origin worksheet column, they are being treated as text, not date-time data (which are stored internally as a numeric).
  • When date and time data are not recognized properly by Origin, you can do a couple of things:
    • You can manually specify your custom date-time format by setting the date-time column's Properties, either before or after you import.
    • You can use Origin's Import Wizard to parse and format your date-time data.

Note that custom date-time formats are stored in the worksheet column. If you save the project file, the custom format is saved with the project.


Keywords:day, hour, minute, second, Text/CSV Connector