Text to CSV Converter
Convert delimited text to CSV format with auto-detection of commas, tabs, pipes and semicolons plus table preview
Paste delimited text to convert to CSV format
Convert any delimited text to proper CSV format with automatic delimiter detection.
Converting Plain Text to CSV
CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is the universal format for tabular data. Conversion takes structured plain text (one record per line, fields separated by tabs/commas/spaces/etc.) and outputs proper CSV with quote-escaping for special characters. So 'Alice 30 Engineer\nBob 25 Designer' becomes 'Alice,30,Engineer\nBob,25,Designer'.
Common scenarios: pasted spreadsheet data needs CSV format, log files with consistent structure to spreadsheet, scraped table data to CSV. Most converters handle: tab-separated input (TSV), space-separated, custom delimiters, quoted fields, escape characters. Output works in Excel, Google Sheets, databases, and any CSV-aware tool.
Common Conversions
| Input format | Output (CSV) |
|---|---|
| Tab-separated | Replace tabs with commas |
| Space-separated | Detect field boundaries |
| Pipe-separated | Replace pipes with commas |
| Fixed-width | Detect column positions |
| JSON arrays | Flatten to CSV rows |
| XML data | Extract values to columns |
| Plain text lists | One field per line |
| Markdown tables | Strip formatting to CSV |
Frequently Asked Questions
What if my text has commas in it?
Quote-escape: surround the field with double quotes. So 'Hello, world' becomes "Hello, world". This is the CSV standard - commas inside quoted fields don't break parsing. Quotes themselves get escaped as \" within quoted fields.
Will Excel open my CSV correctly?
Usually yes if the structure is clean. Excel's auto-detection handles most CSV variations. If issues: open Excel first, then File → Import → Text/CSV with explicit delimiter setting. UTF-8 BOM helps Excel recognise non-ASCII characters correctly.