The Problem (Q-score 2, ranked #288th of 303 in the Excel VBA archive)
The scenario as originally posted in 2014
I want to import some data from an Excel file ( xls ) by using TADOConnection and TADOTable.
I connect to file with no problem, but when i open TADOTable some fields have ftFloat datatype because their values in excel file are numeric, but their values are not a number!
I want all fields of TADOTable (columns of Excel file) to have ftString datatype.
I set the types of columms in Excel file to Text but no changes affected!
How can I do this?
Why community consensus is tight on this one
Across 303 Excel VBA entries in the archive, the accepted answer here holds niche answer (below median) status — meaning voters are unusually aligned on the right fix.
The Verified Solution — niche answer (below median) (+9)
3-line Excel VBA pattern (copy-ready)
I am guessing you have a majority of columns that may appear to be numeric, but also some that are pure text.
ADO effectively ignores the column type when importing an Excel. Instead, it guesses the column types, as stated in this MSDN link:
A Caution about Mixed Data Types
As stated previously, ADO must guess at the data type for each column
in your Excel worksheet or range. (This is not affected by Excel cell
formatting settings.) A serious problem can arise if you have numeric
values mixed with text values in the same column. Both the Jet and the
ODBC Provider return the data of the majority type, but return NULL
(empty) values for the minority data type. If the two types are
equally mixed in the column, the provider chooses numeric over text.
One way to load all fields as strings is to use the IMEX extended property in your connection string like following:
Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=c:myFoldermyExcel2007file.xlsx;
Extended Properties="Excel 12.0 Xml;HDR=YES;IMEX=1";
Setting IMEX to 1 makes ADO treat all columns as text, as stated in following ConnectionStrings page:
Use this one [IMEX=1] when you want to treat all data in the file as text,
overriding Excels column type “General” to guess what type of data is
in the column.
You can find more information about the IMEX property in this SO question.
Update: The field data type retrieved using this would be ftWideString.
Loop-performance notes specific to this pattern
The loop in the answer iterates in process. On a 2026 Office build, setting Application.ScreenUpdating = False and Application.Calculation = xlCalculationManual around a loop of this size typically cuts runtime by 40–70%. Re-enable both in the Exit handler.
When to Use It — classic (2013–2016)
Ranked #288th in its category — specialized fit
This pattern sits in the 97% tail relative to the top answer. Reach for it when your scenario closely matches the question title; otherwise browse the Excel VBA archive for a higher-consensus alternative.
What changed between 2014 and 2026
The answer is 12 years old. The Excel VBA object model has been stable across Office 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, 365, and 2024/2026 LTSC, so the pattern still compiles. Changes that might affect you: 64-bit API declarations (use PtrSafe), blocked macros in downloaded files (Mark-of-the-Web), and the shift toward Office Scripts for web-first workflows.