# Spreadsheets as Objects: Import-Csv Import-Csv reads a CSV file, the plain-text kind of spreadsheet that shops, banks and apps export, and turns each row into an object with one property for each column, so you can filter, sort, group and add up the rows with the commands from Module 3. Apprentice · PowerShell · Operating System · Updated November 10, 2026 ## After this lesson you can - Turn a CSV file into objects with Import-Csv, one object a row and one property a column - Filter, sort, group and add up a CSV file's rows with Where-Object, Sort-Object, Group-Object and Measure-Object ## Key takeaways - A CSV file is a spreadsheet saved as plain text: one row a line, commas between the cells, and the column headings on the first line. - `Import-Csv` turns each row into an object, with one property for each column, named after its heading. - `Where-Object`, `Sort-Object`, `Group-Object` and `Measure-Object` work on the rows the way they work on files. - Every value arrives as text, so a column of prices sorts like words, not like numbers, until you turn it into numbers. Maple Street Bikes sells and rents bikes from two shops in town, Downtown and Riverside. At the end of every month, the till's software exports the month's sales as a file, and the owner asks the same questions: what sold, which shop sold more, and how many inner tubes to order. In Excel that's a filter, a sort and a pivot table, clicked together again every month. A bookkeeper, a shop owner and a data analyst all live with exports like this one. PowerShell reads the file and answers each question in one line, and the same line works next month. ## A spreadsheet saved as text: CSV CSV stands for *comma-separated values*. It's the plainest way to save a spreadsheet: text, one row a line, with a comma between the cells. Almost every program that keeps a table can export one: a bank, a shop's till, a club's sign-up form, and Excel itself (*File*, *Save As*, *CSV*). Copy these lines into PowerShell to make the shop's October export. Running them again is safe. ```powershell New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$HOME\terminal-practice\bike-shop" | Out-Null Set-Content -Path "$HOME\terminal-practice\bike-shop\sales-2026-10.csv" -Value 'Date,Store,Product,Qty,Price', '2026-10-01,Downtown,Helmet,2,39.99', '2026-10-01,Riverside,Bike Lock,1,24.50', '2026-10-03,Downtown,City Bike,1,449.00', '2026-10-04,Riverside,Inner Tube,4,6.99', '2026-10-06,Downtown,Bike Light,3,18.75', '2026-10-08,Riverside,City Bike,1,449.00', '2026-10-11,Downtown,Inner Tube,6,6.99', '2026-10-13,Riverside,Helmet,1,39.99', '2026-10-15,Downtown,E-Bike,1,1299.00', '2026-10-18,Riverside,Bike Light,2,18.75', '2026-10-22,Downtown,Bike Lock,2,24.50', '2026-10-27,Riverside,Inner Tube,3,6.99' ``` They print nothing when they work. Read the start of the file as text: ```powershell Set-Location "$HOME\terminal-practice\bike-shop" Get-Content sales-2026-10.csv -TotalCount 4 ``` ```text Date,Store,Product,Qty,Price 2026-10-01,Downtown,Helmet,2,39.99 2026-10-01,Riverside,Bike Lock,1,24.50 2026-10-03,Downtown,City Bike,1,449.00 ``` The first line is the **header**: the column headings, Date, Store, Product, Qty (quantity) and Price. Each line under it is one sale, its cells in the same order. A file like this is a **CSV file**, and its name usually ends in `.csv`. ## Each row an object: Import-Csv `Get-Content` sees lines of text. `Import-Csv` sees a table. It reads the header, then turns every line under it into an object, with one property for each column, named after its heading: ```powershell Import-Csv sales-2026-10.csv | Select-Object -First 2 ``` ```text Date : 2026-10-01 Store : Downtown Product : Helmet Qty : 2 Price : 39.99 Date : 2026-10-01 Store : Riverside Product : Bike Lock Qty : 1 Price : 24.50 ``` Those are the first two sales, shown as lists because each has five properties (*Tables and Lists: Format-Table and Format-List* explains the rule). Add `Format-Table` to see every row as a table: ```powershell Import-Csv sales-2026-10.csv | Format-Table ``` ```text Date Store Product Qty Price ---- ----- ------- --- ----- 2026-10-01 Downtown Helmet 2 39.99 2026-10-01 Riverside Bike Lock 1 24.50 2026-10-03 Downtown City Bike 1 449.00 2026-10-04 Riverside Inner Tube 4 6.99 2026-10-06 Downtown Bike Light 3 18.75 2026-10-08 Riverside City Bike 1 449.00 2026-10-11 Downtown Inner Tube 6 6.99 2026-10-13 Riverside Helmet 1 39.99 2026-10-15 Downtown E-Bike 1 1299.00 2026-10-18 Riverside Bike Light 2 18.75 2026-10-22 Downtown Bike Lock 2 24.50 2026-10-27 Riverside Inner Tube 3 6.99 ``` ![One line of the CSV file, 2026-10-01,Downtown,Helmet,2,39.99, with the header above it, becomes one object: each heading turns into a property name and each cell into that property's value, Date 2026-10-01, Store Downtown, Product Helmet, Qty 2, Price 39.99](https://fsdtrainingmedia.blob.core.windows.net/public/images/2026/11/f83073ad23a348d58c3ae34fe58f6a43.webp) `Get-Member`, from *What an Object Is: Get-Member*, shows what each row became: ```powershell Import-Csv sales-2026-10.csv | Get-Member ``` ```text TypeName: System.Management.Automation.PSCustomObject Name MemberType Definition ---- ---------- ---------- Equals Method bool Equals(System.Object obj) GetHashCode Method int GetHashCode() GetType Method type GetType() ToString Method string ToString() Date NoteProperty string Date=2026-10-01 Price NoteProperty string Price=39.99 Product NoteProperty string Product=Helmet Qty NoteProperty string Qty=2 Store NoteProperty string Store=Downtown ``` A `PSCustomObject` is an object PowerShell builds on the spot, and each column is a `NoteProperty`. Notice the word in front of every value: `string`, which is text. That word matters at the end of this lesson. ## Filter, sort, group and add up Everything Module 3 did with files works on rows. Only the Downtown shop's sales: ```powershell Import-Csv sales-2026-10.csv | Where-Object Store -eq 'Downtown' | Format-Table ``` ```text Date Store Product Qty Price ---- ----- ------- --- ----- 2026-10-01 Downtown Helmet 2 39.99 2026-10-03 Downtown City Bike 1 449.00 2026-10-06 Downtown Bike Light 3 18.75 2026-10-11 Downtown Inner Tube 6 6.99 2026-10-15 Downtown E-Bike 1 1299.00 2026-10-22 Downtown Bike Lock 2 24.50 ``` What sold most often? One pile per product, the biggest first: ```powershell Import-Csv sales-2026-10.csv | Group-Object Product -NoElement | Sort-Object Count -Descending ``` ```text Count Name ----- ---- 3 Inner Tube 2 Bike Light 2 Bike Lock 2 City Bike 2 Helmet 1 E-Bike ``` And how many inner tubes went out the door? Narrow it to the inner tubes, then add up their Qty: ```powershell Import-Csv sales-2026-10.csv | Where-Object Product -eq 'Inner Tube' | Measure-Object Qty -Sum ``` ```text Count : 3 Average : Sum : 13 Maximum : Minimum : StandardDeviation : Property : Qty ``` Three sales, thirteen tubes. Next month, only the file name changes. ## Prices that are really text Now the catch. Sort by price, biggest first: ```powershell Import-Csv sales-2026-10.csv | Sort-Object Price -Descending | Select-Object Product, Price -First 6 ``` ```text Product Price ------- ----- Inner Tube 6.99 Inner Tube 6.99 Inner Tube 6.99 City Bike 449.00 City Bike 449.00 Helmet 39.99 ``` The cheapest thing in the shop comes first, and the $1,299 e-bike isn't even in the top six. A CSV file is only text, so `Import-Csv` can't know that a column holds numbers: every value arrives as a string. Text sorts the way words do in a dictionary, one character at a time, so `6.99` comes after `449.00` and `1299.00`, because 6 comes after 4 and 1. `Where-Object Price -gt 100` goes wrong the same way: it keeps all twelve rows. `Measure-Object` is the exception, because it turns text into numbers itself, which is why the thirteen tubes came out right. The next lesson, *Saving Data: Export-Csv and Cleaning a CSV*, shows how to tell PowerShell that a column holds numbers. `Import-Csv` works the same in Windows PowerShell 5.1, and on a Mac or Linux with `/` in paths. Excel in some countries saves CSV files with semicolons between the cells; `Import-Csv sales.csv -Delimiter ';'` reads those. **Try it.** Which shop sold more items in October? Add up the Qty of each shop's rows with `Where-Object` and `Measure-Object`. Then list the Riverside sales, sorted by Product. ## Check yourself 2 questions to try on the lesson page. ## So what A spreadsheet export is a table written as text, and `Import-Csv` turns it into objects you already know how to filter, sort, group and count. ## Key terms - [Import-Csv](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/import-csv) - [CSV File](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/csv-file) - [Object](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/object-oop) - [Property](https://www.ask-codey.com/glossary/property-oop) ## Cheat sheets - [Spreadsheets as Objects: Import-Csv](https://www.ask-codey.com/cheat-sheets/powershell-import-csv-cheat-sheet) ## Related - [Saving Data: Export-Csv and Cleaning a CSV](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-export-csv) - [Filtering: Where-Object and Comparisons](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-where-object) - [Counting and Grouping: Measure-Object and Group-Object](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-measure-and-group) - [What an Object Is: Get-Member](https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-what-is-an-object) Source: https://www.ask-codey.com/lessons/powershell-import-csv