Open a CSV in Excel and it silently eats leading zeros, turns long IDs into 1.23E+15, makes β1-2β into 2-Jan and gene names like MARCH1 into dates. This finds every cell Excel would mangle and exports a protected copy that opens intact.
The download is UTF-8 with a byte-order mark so accents survive too. Cells starting with = + - @ are also neutralised (CSV formula injection). Protected cells are text in Excel β convert back with VALUE() if you need maths on them. Guide only: Excelβs rules vary by locale and version.