Excel's habit of silently rewriting product codes like 4E75 into scientific notation is not a minor annoyance. It is a quiet data integrity failure that erodes trust in your own spreadsheets. The user who submitted this question has done everything right: they formatted columns as text, used the import wizard, and still hit the same wall. Their frustration is justified, and their suspicion is correct. The default behavior is not a user error, it is a design flaw that has persisted for far too long.
The practical reality is that Excel's automatic data conversion is a blunt instrument. It assumes that anything resembling a number, including codes with an embedded "E," must be a number in scientific notation. That assumption overrides your formatting choices, your import settings, and your intent. The option under File > Options > Data to disable automatic data conversion does exist, and it does work for many users, but it is not a permanent global fix. It applies to the current session or requires careful configuration, and it does not retroactively repair data that has already been mangled. So yes, the setting is real, but it is not a silver bullet. It is a bandage, and you should not feel foolish for asking whether anyone has tested it in the wild.
What this means for you is that the solution is not a single toggle but a workflow change. If you control the data source, consider using a text editor to pre-format the codes with a leading apostrophe or a non-numeric character that Excel will not reinterpret. If you are pasting from another application, use the "Match Destination Formatting" option or paste as text first, then apply your own formatting. For CSVs, the import wizard is your friend, but you must remember to select "Text" for the specific column every single time. It is tedious, but it is reliable. The alternative, trusting Excel to infer your intent, is a gamble you will lose repeatedly.
Our take is simple: stop expecting Excel to read your mind and start building your defenses around its weaknesses. The fact that you have to fight the tool to preserve your own data is not a reflection of your skill. It is a reflection of a product that prioritizes convenience over correctness. You can win this battle, but only by refusing to rely on Excel's goodwill. Test the setting, yes, but also build a habit of verifying your data after every import. The moment you stop assuming your codes survived the paste is the moment you take back control.