on IPUMS International, when I try to extract datas, I use the .csv format, but how to open it with a spreadsheet program, like Excel for instance and see the real numbers, and no “‹*¯=W ipumsi_00004.csv ¤ýËŽ-K¶%‰õùÙÎÆq_þlŠ‰z!Y ²Züÿ¿àÎ}a…”
This issue can occur if you attempt to open the zipped version of the data extract in Excel. You can find instructions for decompressing the zipped data file here.
Hope this helps.