File Format

Description

Minitab Project (MPJ)

Contains all the information in the current project, including worksheets, output, and history. When you save the project, you save all of your work at once. When you open a project, you can pick up right where you left off.

Minitab automatically creates a backup file of your project (BAK).

Minitab worksheet (MTW)

Contains all the information in the Minitab worksheet. You cannot print or edit a Minitab worksheet file outside of Minitab.

Minitab portable worksheet (MTP)

Contains columns, constants, and matrices, but not DOE design objects, formulas, and settings, in a text file format.

Use to transfer Minitab worksheet data between platforms, operating systems, and earlier versions of Minitab.

Text (TXT, CSV, DAT)

Contains only column data. Use to transfer data between Minitab and other applications. Minitab can open or save the following types of text files:

·    TXT or DAT: Standard text file

·    CSV (Comma Separated Values): Text file in which commas (or some other divider) separate values

Text files can be saved using either ANSI (sometimes called ASCII) or Unicode encoding. ANSI is the older standard, and some older applications may only support ANSI. Unicode was developed to represent more characters and to be independent of the user's locale.  If you are exchanging ANSI text files between machines, make sure that the locales are set the same so that all machines interpret the file the same way. To avoid this issue, use Unicode text files.

You can specify some import or export options such as column names, column delimiters, and handling of missing value codes.

Files from other applications

Contain only column data. Minitab can open and save files from Microsoft Excel (XLS, XLSX, XML).

You can specify some import or export options such as column names, column delimiters, and handling of missing value codes.

Web page (HTM, HTML)

Contains only column data. When you open an HTML file with a word processor or Web browser, all of the formatting is retained.  

Minitab cannot open Web page files.