How to Undo Geography in Excel
Excel's Geography data type can feel like a superpower, instantly turning a simple list of countries or cities into a rich dataset filled with population figures, capitals, and area codes. But sometimes, you need to turn that superpower off and get back to plain, simple text. This tutorial will walk you through exactly how to undo the Geography data type in Excel, so you can control your data, not the other way around.
What is the Geography Data Type in Excel?
Before changing it back, let's quickly touch on what the Geography feature is. Part of Excel’s "Linked Data Types," it connects your text to an online data source (Microsoft's Bing). When you type a location like "France" and apply the Geography data type, Excel recognizes it and marks it with a small map icon.
Once linked, that single cell is no longer just the word "France." It’s an object that holds dozens of related data points you can pull into your spreadsheet. With a click, you can create new columns for:
- Population
- Capital City
- GDP
- Largest City
- Area (sq. km)
- Leaders
- And much more...
This is incredibly useful for enriching reports, performing market analysis, or quickly building a dataset for a school project. You can turn a basic list into a comprehensive overview in seconds. It’s a dynamic way to bring real-world context directly into your spreadsheet without having to Google everything one by one.
Why You Might Need to Revert Geography Data Back to Text
As powerful as this feature is, there are moments when having your locations linked to an online database is more of a hassle than a help. You might find yourself wanting to go back to regular text for several practical reasons.
1. Compatibility Issues
The most common reason is collaboration. If you send a workbook with Geography data types to someone using an older version of Excel, or a different spreadsheet program like Google Sheets, they might have issues. The linked data might show up as errors (like #VALUE! or #UNKNOWN!), or the cells might be difficult to edit, causing confusion and wasting time.
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2. Formula and Function Problems
Standard Excel text functions don’t always play nicely with linked data types. Let's say you want to use CONCATENATE to join a city with another piece of text, or LEFT to extract the first few letters. Since the cell isn't just text anymore, these formulas might fail or return unexpected results. Reverting the data to plain text makes your spreadsheet behave predictably with familiar Excel functions.
3. Performance and File Size
A worksheet with hundreds or thousands of linked data points is constantly waiting to communicate with an external server. This can sometimes lead to slower loading times, delayed calculations, and an overall sluggish feel, especially on older computers or with large files. Converting the data back to static text strips out this connection, often making your workbook faster and more responsive.
4. Data Integrity and Control
Linked data is dynamic, which means it can update. While that’s usually a benefit, it can also be a liability if you need your report to be a static snapshot in time. For example, population figures change. If you need your report to reflect numbers from the day you created it, converting the fields to static text is the only way to lock them in and prevent future updates.
How to Undo the Geography Data Type in Excel
Luckily, converting your Geography data back into boring (but useful) text is easy. Here are three different methods, each suited for a slightly different scenario.
Method 1: Use the "Convert to Text" Feature
This is the official, most direct way to undo the Geography data type. It reverts the exact same cells back to their original text state.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Select the Cells: Highlight a single cell, a group of cells, or the entire column that has the Geography data type applied. You'll know they're the right ones because they'll have the map icon next to the text.
- Right-Click for the Context Menu: Right-click on any of the highlighted cells.
- Navigate and Convert: In the menu that appears, find and hover over Data Type. A sub-menu will appear. Click on Convert to Text.
That's it! The map icons will disappear, and the cells will now contain plain text. All the linked data - like population or GDP in adjacent columns that you pulled in - will remain as static values, but the source cell will be a simple text string again.
Use this method when you want to permanently change the data in place. It's clean, fast, and exactly what most users are looking for.
Method 2: Extract the Name with a Formula
What if you want to keep the linked Geography data but also need a plain text version in a separate column for a formula or lookup? In this case, you can extract the "name" from the data object.
Let's say your list of countries with the Geography data type is in column A, starting from cell A2.
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Select an Adjacent Cell: Click on an empty cell next to your first piece of geography data (e.g., cell B2).
- Type the Formula: In the formula bar, type:
=A2.Name - Press Enter: Excel will immediately pull the text name from the A2 data type and place it in B2 as regular text.
- Drag to Fill: Click on the small square at the bottom-right of cell B2 (the fill handle) and drag it down to apply the formula to the rest of your list.
You now have a new column with the plain text names, while column A still retains all the rich, linked data. If you want this new column to be completely independent, you can copy it and use Paste Special > Values to remove the formulas.
Use this method when you need both the linked data functionality and a plain text version for other tasks.
Method 3: The Notepad Copy-Paste Trick
For a quick and universally compatible method that works with just about any type of special formatting, you can use a plain text editor like Notepad (on Windows) or TextEdit (on Mac).
Step-by-Step Instructions:
- Copy Geography Cells: Select the cells or a column with the Geography data type in Excel and press
Ctrl + C(orCmd + Con Mac) to copy them. - Open a Plain Text Editor: Open Notepad or any other simple text editor.
- Paste into Notepad: Paste the data into the blank document by pressing
Ctrl + V(orCmd + V). The text editor will strip away all formatting and data links, leaving just the text. - Copy from Notepad: Select all the text in Notepad and copy it again.
- Paste Back into Excel: Go back to Excel and paste the text where you need it — either over the original cells or into a new location.
This sounds like a lot of steps, but it’s very fast in practice. It’s a handy troubleshooting trick for all sorts of formatting issues, not just data types.
Use this method when you need a "nuke everything" option that guarantees you get nothing but plain, unadulterated text.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
After you convert your data, you might encounter an error in another cell. Here's what to look out for.
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Dealing with #FIELD! Errors
If you used the Geography data type to create related columns (like having =A2.Population in cell B2), converting cell A2 to text will break that formula. Why? Because the plain text in cell A2 no longer has a "Population" field attached to it.
When this happens, cell B2 will display a #FIELD! error. This is Excel’s way of saying, "You asked me for a data field that doesn't exist here." To fix it, you simply have to delete the formula. The data you previously pulled in is typically converted to static values automatically when you use the "Convert to Text" feature, so you don't lose the information you already generated.
Can You Undo the "Undo"?
Once you use "Convert to Text" and save your file, the action is permanent. There’s no "Convert back to Geography" button. The link to the online data source is severed for those cells. However, getting it back is not difficult — you just have to re-apply the Geography data type by selecting the cells and clicking the Geography button on the Data tab of the ribbon. Excel will attempt to match your text to an online location again.
Final Thoughts
Excel's Geography data type is a fantastic tool for quickly adding layers of detail to your location-based data. But knowing how to turn it off is just as important as knowing how to turn it on, giving you full control over compatibility, performance, and how your formulas work. Whether you use the simple right-click conversion or an extraction formula, you can now toggle between rich data and plain text with ease.
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