CN starts with +, CSV shows Invalid name error

Question

Hi there,

I have a bit of a weird problem and could not find any topic on this, so hope someone can help me with this.

I am making an export of AD with powershell script
In my organization, for shared mailboxes we have accounts that have a CN that starts with +

When exporting to CSV, excel sees these shared mailboxaccounts as a formula and gives an Invalid Name Error.
The column only shows #NAME?
Is there something I can add to my script to resolve this so it will actually shown the CN instead of the error?

Thanks,

Ingrid

Answer 1

Excel isn't PowerShell. A CSV file doesn't contain formulas -- they're "text only". You need to define the way Excel handles that column during the import -- in Excel.