However, that note is about Proc Export (Base) and Excel:
PROC EXPORT, when exporting data to Excel, preceeds each character value that is written out with a single leading quote. This is the proper behavior, and began with the original Lotus applications. The spreadsheet format was originally designed for numeric data and mathematical functions. Since a spreadsheet would take only numbers, in order to enter an alpha character (it was called a Label), you had to preceed the entry with a single-quote.
This single quote is not part of the text value, however. It is just displayed in the contents box. There are no settings or options in PROC EXPORT (or the Export Wizard) that will alter the behavior, but it
should not cause any issues with the data in Excel.