Indiana University Bloomington
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Microsoft Excel Configuration Instructions

NOTE: The dtxt file format is a tab delimited text file (similar to a csv). In most cases, Excel or Windows configuration to use these files is unnecessary with later iterations of Excel/Windows software. The simplest route to using dtxt files is to save the file to your local PC and open it using Excel.

Alternately, when encountering a dtxt file, right click on the link and choose Save Link As.... Rename the file with an extension of .xls or .csv, then click the Save button.

When you open the file, you may receive a warning from Excel notifying you that the extension does not match the file format. If this happens, click Yes to continue. (If you'd like to eliminate the warning message, simply save the file using the Excel Save As... option under the File menu and choose either the .xls or the .xlsx option.)

For users of older computers/versions of Excel and Windows, the original instructions for configuration are provided below.

  1. Open Windows Explorer (Go to Start, right click on "Start" and click on "Explore").
  2. Select Tools on the toolbar.
  3. Select Folder Options...
  4. Click on the File Types tab.
  5. Click the New button which will bring up a window titled Create New Extension.
  6. In the File Extension box, type dtxt
  7. Click the OK button
  8. In the Folder Options windows, click the Advanced button which will bring up a window titled Edit File Type.
  9. Click the New... button
  10. In the Action box, type open
  11. For the Application used to perform this action box, type or browse to the path of the .exe file for your workstation's installation of the Microsoft Excel program. The "%1" needs to be added at the end of the path.

This path should look similar to this:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\EXCEL.EXE" "%1"

NOTE: Quotation marks around the path are needed if spaces exist in the path.

  1. Click the OK button to accept your changes and to take you back to the previous window.
  2. Uncheck the "Confirm open after download" and "Always show extension" boxes at the bottom of this window.
  3. Click the OK button to accept your changes and to take you back to the previous window.
  4. Click the CLOSE button to accept your changes and to close this window.
  5. If you have any difficulties, contact your computer support staff.
Instructions courtesy of Financial Management Services.