HaulcopyOpen the CSV in a plain text editor and note how a date is written: day or month first, and the time format. That tells you which locale to pick in step 3.
Haulcopy / Guides / Dates in Excel
Checked against Atlassian and Microsoft docs on 17 Oct 2026
Fix Jira dates and numbers that land as text in Excel
Short answer
Jira’s CSV export writes dates as text in your site’s date format. Excel only turns them into real dates when that format matches your computer’s regional settings. Import the file with Power Query and set each column’s type with the right locale, or convert the column afterwards.
Which fix fits you
| Your situation | Best fit |
|---|---|
| One column, already open in Excel | Text to Columns or DATEVALUE (step 4 or 5) |
| You import the export regularly | Power Query with Change Type Using Locale (steps 2 and 3) |
| Issue keys like SEP-2944 turn into dates | Set the key column to Text on import |
| You are a Jira admin and want one clear format | Change the export date format at the source (step 6) |
| You repeat the export as a formatted Excel file | An app that writes real cells, such as Haulcopy |
Why dates and numbers land as text
Jira writes date fields in the CSV using the site’s Complete Date/Time Format (Settings, System, Look and feel). In a real Jira Cloud CSV we exported, Created reads 17/Oct/26 3:36 PM and a due date reads 01/Sep/26 12:00 AM. LibreOffice’s default import left both as text. Times follow the exporting user’s own time zone, so two people can get different values.
Excel opens a CSV using your computer’s regional settings. If the day, month or decimal separator does not match, the cell stays text or day and month swap. Excel can also turn text that looks like a date, such as an issue key, into a date.
Garbled characters are a different problem. That is the file encoding, not the date format. See Jira CSV export: all fields or visible fields.
Fix it without an app
In Excel, choose Data, Get Data, From File, From Text/CSV, pick the file, then Transform Data. Do not double click the CSV. Opening it directly lets Excel guess every column. Atlassian also advises against opening exported CSVs directly in Excel, because the file may execute macros.
Right click a date column, choose Change Type, Using Locale, then pick Date/Time and the locale that matches the raw file (for example English (United Kingdom) for a day-first date like 17/Oct/26). Set the key column to Text. Set number columns to Decimal Number with the same locale. Then Close and Load.
Select the date column, choose Data, Text to Columns, Delimited, clear every delimiter, then in step 3 choose Date and the order of the raw text (DMY or MDY). For numbers stored as text, select the column, open Text to Columns and choose Finish.
=DATEVALUE(A2) turns a text date into a real date, if the text matches a date format your Excel understands. It ignores the time part. Paste the results back as values.
For numbers, =VALUE(A2) works when the text uses your Excel’s decimal mark. Otherwise use =NUMBERVALUE(A2, ".", ","). It reads a dot as the decimal mark and a comma as the grouping mark, whatever your Excel’s locale. That matched a real Jira CSV exported with the English (United States) locale. If your file uses a comma for decimals, swap the two marks.
Change the Complete Date/Time Format under Settings, System, Look and feel to an unambiguous pattern such as yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm. Atlassian notes that an invalid pattern corrupts exported dates. It is a site wide setting, so agree it with the team first.
Other options
Excel’s own settings
In recent Excel, File, Options, Data, Automatic Data Conversion can stop some conversions, such as turning JAN1 into a date. Values with a dash, like JAN-1, may still convert.
Jira Cloud for Excel
Atlassian’s official add-in pulls a JQL search or starred filter straight into Excel.
How Haulcopy writes dates and numbers
Haulcopy’s Excel exports write real cells, so there is nothing to convert.
- Dates are real date cells and numbers are real numbers.
- Story points are numeric.
- Time tracking fields are written as hours with a 0.00 number format. The combined Time tracking field stays text.
- Haulcopy Excel date cells hold the issue’s UTC calendar values. An Excel date is a serial number with no time zone of its own.
- PDF shows times in the user’s Jira profile time zone.
- Jira’s own CSV writes dates as text in the site’s date format.
- 109 seconds for 10,000 issues and 50 fields, in our test.
- Excel, CSV and PDF. No template language, no watermark.
- Your data stays in Atlassian. Haulcopy has no servers of its own.
A formatted workbook is a different file from this CSV path. Export Jira issues to Excel.
Questions
Why does Excel show my Jira dates as text?
The CSV holds dates as text in your Jira site’s format. If that does not match your computer’s regional settings, Excel leaves them as text.
Why are day and month swapped?
Excel read a day-first date with month-first settings, or the reverse. Import with Change Type Using Locale and pick the locale of the file.
Why did an issue key turn into a date?
Excel converts text that looks like a date. Import the key column as Text.
Can I change the date format Jira exports?
Yes. A Jira admin can change the Complete Date/Time Format in Look and feel. It applies to the whole site.
Does Haulcopy’s CSV keep real dates?
No CSV can. A CSV is plain text in any tool. Use Haulcopy’s Excel (XLSX) export for real date cells.
Sources linked above, checked 17 Oct 2026.