SwitchingExcel, Google Sheets, or Numbers

How to switch from a spreadsheet to DeductiBee

If you keep your donations in a spreadsheet, you already own your data and nothing here is gated. The only real work is in the export details: all three apps write one sheet per file, so a tab per tax year means one export per tab, and both the delimiter and the date format follow settings on your machine rather than anything in the file.

a spreadsheet today
Not a product anyone can switch off, which is the best thing about it. Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers all write CSV from a normal File menu command, on every platform their makers document, at no cost.
Can you get a file out
YesCSV, CSV UTF-8, XLSX
A standard File menu command in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers. No paid tier gates it in any of the three.
Before you start

What trips people up moving off a spreadsheet

  • One sheet per file. Every Excel CSV variant saves only the active sheet, and Google's developer documentation describes its CSV target the same way, so a multi-tab workbook quietly exports as a single tab unless you repeat the export.
  • All formatting is discarded. Microsoft states that saving in a text format removes all formatting, and that cell properties, formulas, graphics and other formatting are not preserved. Color coding you used to mark a charity or a condition tier is data, and it is gone.
  • The delimiter follows your operating system. Excel's comma default follows the Windows list separator setting, so a semicolon-delimited file with a .csv extension is a common and confusing import failure.
  • Dates export however the cell displayed them, and that display follows your regional settings. The same file exported on a machine set to a different locale writes the day and month the other way round.
  • In Google Sheets, currency and date formatting follow the spreadsheet's locale setting rather than your account. Check it under File, then Settings, before exporting.
Step one

Get your records out of a spreadsheet

Before importing anywhere, open the CSV in a plain text editor and check two things. First, that the separator really is a comma: Excel's default follows your operating system's list separator setting, which is a semicolon in many locales. Second, that the dates look the way you expect, since date columns export however the cell was displaying them, and that display follows your regional settings.

  1. 1Excel on the desktop: File, then Save AsMicrosoft's instructions are to select File, then Save As or Save a Copy, then pick the text or CSV format you want from the file type box. On Windows that list includes comma delimited, Macintosh and MS-DOS variants.
  2. 2Prefer the UTF-8 variant where your build offers itExcel for Mac documents a separate CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) entry that exports the active sheet in a way that complies with UTF-8 encoding. Picking it is what keeps accented charity names and curly apostrophes intact rather than turning them into noise.
  3. 3Expect two warnings, and repeat per tabExcel warns that only the current worksheet will be saved, then that some features might be lost in CSV format. Both are expected. If your log has a tab per tax year, you have to repeat the whole Save As once per tab under a different filename.
  4. 4Excel in the browser: download a copy firstMicrosoft documents File, then Create a Copy, then Download a Copy, which gives you a workbook file. Open that in desktop Excel and run the Save As above to get a CSV.
  5. 5Google Sheets: File, then Download, then CSVClick File, then Download, then choose the file type. Google's developer documentation describes its CSV export target as first-sheet only, so expect one tab per download here too and check the file rather than assuming the rest came along.
  6. 6Numbers on a Mac: File, then Export To, then CSVApple's guide gives the path as File, then Export To, then the format. Under CSV you can choose whether to create a file per table or combine tables into one. Set the text encoding first: it is behind the disclosure arrow next to Advanced Options.
  7. 7Numbers on iPhone or iPad: More, then Export, then CSVTap the More button in the toolbar, tap Export, then tap CSV. Apple's iPhone guide does not expose the encoding or per-table options that the Mac version documents, so export from a Mac when you have the choice.
Step two

Bring the file into DeductiBee

DeductiBee works out what the file is rather than asking you, so these three steps are the same whatever you exported from.

  1. 8Open Import in DeductiBee and pick your fileImport lives in onboarding and in Settings afterwards, so it is there whether you are new or have been using the app for a year. Choose the file from Files, iCloud Drive, or whatever app it landed in.
  2. 9Check the preview before anything is savedDeductiBee reads the file, works out which columns are which, and shows you what it found: how many donations, which tax years, and how each condition tier maps onto Like new, Good, and Fair. Nothing is written to your records until you accept that preview.
  3. 10Confirm the organizations it rebuiltMost exports list a charity name on every row rather than a separate list of organizations, so DeductiBee reconstructs the list from those rows and shows it to you to confirm or merge. Re-importing the same file later does not duplicate anything.

Importing your own history is free on every tier, permanently, and so is exporting your raw data again later. Neither is behind the paywall, on principle: your records are yours.

The honest part

What comes with you, and what does not

No migration is lossless. Knowing which half is which before you start is the difference between a move and a surprise.

Comes with you

  • Whatever text is literally in the cells: dates, charity names, item descriptions, condition wording, quantities, values, mileage and notes
  • Your column headers, as the first row, which is exactly what an importer needs
  • Numbers, as displayed text rather than as underlying values
  • Every row of every year, if you export each tab separately

Does not come with you

  • Photos and receipt images. Pictures placed on a sheet are graphics, and graphics are not preserved in CSV
  • Formulas. A running total column exports as its last computed value, and a cell showing an error exports the error text
  • Every sheet except the one you exported
  • Formatting used as data: fill colors marking a charity, bold marking a non-cash item, strikethrough marking something returned
  • Comments, notes, dropdowns, hyperlinks to receipt files, and conditional formatting rules
FAQ

Questions about leaving a spreadsheet

What columns should my spreadsheet have before I import it?
A date, a charity name, a description of what you gave, a quantity, a condition, and a value are the useful ones, one row per item. You do not need to rename anything: DeductiBee reads your header row, works out which column is which, and shows you that mapping before it saves. Anything it cannot place, it tells you about.
My dates came out wrong in the CSV. Why?
Because a date column exports the way the cell was displaying it, and that display follows your machine's regional settings rather than the file. Set the column to an unambiguous format before exporting, and check the CSV in a text editor rather than reopening it in the spreadsheet app, which will reformat it again on the way in.
Only one year came out. What happened?
You have a tab per year, and CSV holds one sheet. Excel saves only the active sheet and Google Sheets exports the first one, so a workbook with five tabs needs five exports. DeductiBee will take all five, and re-importing one twice does not duplicate anything.
Is a spreadsheet actually worse than an app?
For record-keeping alone, no, and a spreadsheet cannot be discontinued, which is more than most of this list can say. What it does not do is tell you what a used winter coat in good condition is worth, keep the photo next to the item, or fill in the thresholds that decide whether you need Form 8283. The honest comparison is here.
Method

Where these steps came from

There is no other company's product to check here: what you are leaving is already yours. What the steps above rest on is the IRS guidance on valuing and substantiating a donation, checked on August 9, 2026 and linked below so you can read it rather than take our word for it.

What we could not confirm

  • Whether the CSV UTF-8 option appears in the Save as type list of every currently shipping Windows Excel build. The only Microsoft page naming it verbatim that we could load is the Excel for Mac format table.
  • The exact current menu string in Google Sheets for the CSV option. The path is confirmed; the wording of the list entry is not, and the first-sheet-only behavior comes from Google's developer documentation rather than the consumer help page.
  • The character encoding Google Sheets writes. No page we fetched documents it, so assume UTF-8 and check the file.
  • Whether the Google Sheets mobile apps can export CSV at all, as opposed to the browser.
Keep reading

Next

Moving from something else

Bring it all with you

Your donation history should outlive the app you kept it in.

Import what you already have, value what you gave next with a source attached, and export the paperwork when you file.

Nothing to lose in the move

Import is free, re-importing the same file does not duplicate anything, and you can export your raw data again whenever you want.

Records that stay yours

Everything lives on your iPhone, syncing only through your own private iCloud database.

DeductiBee on the App StoreFree to start, with 20 new item entries a year. Import and raw export are free on every tier.