TSV -> CSV · Local tool
TSV to CSV
Convert a tab separated file to CSV, with proper quoting.
Last updated
How do I convert a TSV file to CSV?
Drop the file onto filetity or paste its contents, and the CSV appears beside it, in the browser tab with nothing uploaded. It parses the file and writes it again rather than replacing tabs with commas, and that is the step that matters: a field containing a comma has to be quoted on the way out, or the result is a broken file with more columns than its header and nothing downstream can tell which comma was data. Quotes inside a field are doubled the way CSV requires, and two tabs in a row stay an empty column rather than collapsing and shifting everything after them. The download carries a byte order mark so Excel reads it as UTF-8, and you can write semicolons or pipes instead if that is what the destination wants.
01 / Your device
the file stays here
02 / Browser memory
the work runs locally
03 / Back to you
saved on this device
When you would use this
Situations, not settings.
- A tab separated export a tool will not accept
- Plenty of software lists CSV and nothing else, even though the data is identical apart from one character.
- Data with commas inside the fields
- Replacing tabs with commas breaks it. Parsing and re-writing quotes those fields, which is the difference between a valid file and a shifted one.
- Going the other way, to escape quoting
- Pick tab as the output when the data is so full of commas that the quoted CSV is unreadable.
How it works / no cloud
A conversion engine, not an upload form.
The file is parsed and written again rather than having its tabs replaced with commas, which is the step that matters: a field containing a comma has to be quoted on the way out or the result is a broken CSV with the wrong number of columns.
- Offline ready
- Installable app
- No file limit queue
Straight answers
No accordion. Nothing hidden.
- Is it free?
- Yes, with no watermark and no page limit.
- Does it need an account?
- No. There is no account system.
- Is my file processed on my device?
- Yes. The file is read by your browser and never uploaded. There is no server to send it to.
- What formats are supported?
- TSV, CSV, semicolon and pipe separated text in. Out with a comma, semicolon, tab or pipe.
- What are the limits?
- Rows with a different field count from the header are reported and kept rather than dropped, the same as the other CSV tools here.
- Does it work on mobile?
- Yes, on any modern mobile browser. Large files are limited by the memory the phone gives the browser.
- Does it work offline?
- Yes, once the page has loaded. The tool keeps working with no network connection.
- Why not just replace the tabs with commas?
- Because a field containing a comma then breaks the file. Replacing tabs gives a row with more columns than the header, and nothing downstream can tell which comma was data and which was a separator. Parsing and re-writing quotes those fields, which is the whole difference.
- Can I go the other way, from CSV to TSV?
- Yes, pick tab as the output. The separator is detected on the way in and chosen on the way out, so any of the four combinations works. Tabs are worth going back to when the data is full of commas and the quoting is making the file hard to read.
- Will Excel open the result properly?
- The download carries a byte order mark, so Excel on Windows reads it as UTF-8 rather than as the local code page, which is what turns accented and non-Latin names into mojibake. If Excel still shows one column, pick semicolon, which is what it expects in most of Europe.
- What happens to a field that already has quotes in it?
- The quotes are doubled, which is how CSV escapes them, and the field is wrapped. That is done by writing the file properly rather than by string replacement, so a value like 5'10" survives intact instead of ending the field early.
- Are empty columns preserved?
- Yes. Two tabs in a row mean an empty field and that stays an empty field, rather than collapsing into one separator. Collapsing is what a naive split does and it shifts every column after it by one.
Keep working locally
3 available · more coming