Hey there, let's break down this issue you're facing with your GitHub table data showing ######## in local copies, even though the original data doesn't have this symbol and you can see the correct date when clicking the cell on GitHub.

What's Likely Causing This #

This is almost always a formatting/display issue with the software you're using to open the local file, not a problem with the actual data itself:

• Insufficient column width: When you save the data locally (e.g., to Excel or a CSV opened in spreadsheet software), if the date column isn't wide enough to fit the full date value, the software uses ######## to indicate the content is truncated. GitHub's web table renders differently, so it can show the value properly (and let you see the full date on click).
• Incorrect data type detection: Tools like Excel might misinterpret your date strings as numeric values. If the "numeric" date is too large for the cell's format, it gets replaced with those hash symbols.

Fixes to Try #

1. Widen the problematic column
   The simplest fix first: Open your local file, hover over the edge of the column header for the cells showing ########, and drag to widen it. Chances are the full date will pop right up once there's enough space.

2. Manually set cell formatting

   • Select all the cells showing ########
   • Right-click and choose Format Cells (or the equivalent option in your spreadsheet tool)
   • Navigate to the Date category, pick a format that matches your original date format (like YYYY-MM-DD), and click OK. This forces the software to treat the content as a date instead of a misinterpreted numeric value.

3. Verify data integrity with a plain text editor
   To rule out data corruption during saving, open your local file in a plain text editor (Notepad, VS Code, etc.). If you can see the correct date strings here, you know the issue is 100% with how your spreadsheet tool is displaying the data, not the data itself.

4. Adjust your save workflow
   If you're copying/pasting directly from GitHub into your spreadsheet, try a different method:

   • If the data is in a CSV file on GitHub, use the Raw button to download the original, unrendered CSV instead of copying from the web table.
   • Alternatively, right-click the GitHub table, select Inspect to view the page source, then copy the raw text from the table cells to avoid any web formatting being carried over.

If you still run into issues, sharing the exact method you're using to save the data (e.g., "copying from GitHub table to Excel" or "downloading as CSV and opening in Google Sheets") would help narrow things down further.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Ovi