CSV to TSV converter
Swap comma separators for tabs, which paste cleanly into spreadsheets.
Processed in your browser. This file is converted on your device and is never uploaded.
Converter
.csv up to 25 MB. You can also drag a file here.
No file selected.
About this tool
Tab-separated values paste straight into a spreadsheet as columns, and they avoid the constant escaping that commas force on text containing prose, prices, or addresses. This tool re-separates a CSV file with tabs.
The file is parsed properly rather than having its commas replaced, so quoted fields containing commas survive intact instead of being split apart.
Supported formats and limits
- Input
- .csv
- Output
- .tsv (text/tab-separated-values)
- Output name
- The original name with the new extension, for example data.csv becomes data.tsv.
- File size limit
- 25 MB
- Processing
- In your browser. The file is not uploaded.
CSV against TSV
| Feature | CSV | TSV |
|---|---|---|
| Stored as | Plain text, readable in any editor | Plain text, readable in any editor |
| What it can hold | Rows and columns | Rows and columns |
| Numbers stay numbers | No | No |
| Comments | No | No |
| Several in one file | No | No |
| Published | 1972 | 1993 |
How to use it
- Choose a .csv file, or switch to Paste text and paste the rows directly.
- Select Convert, then download the .tsv file.
Limitations
- A value that itself contains a tab has to be quoted in the output, which some simple TSV readers do not expect.
- This tool expects comma separators. A semicolon-separated export will come through as a single column.
- Values stay as text; no type conversion happens in either direction.
- The file is read as UTF-8.
Common problems
The file was refused before anything started.
CSV to TSV converter checks the extension before it reads a byte, and it accepts .csv. Browsers report file types inconsistently enough that the extension is what decides.
Rename the file if the extension is simply wrong, or convert it to one of those first. A file whose extension does not match its contents is refused for the same reason, and that one needs converting rather than renaming.
It said the file was too large.
The limit here is 25 MB. It is not a policy but a measurement: everything runs on your own device, and past that size a phone runs out of memory rather than finishing slowly.
Split the file, reduce it before converting, or use a desktop program for that one. A machine with more memory will manage more, but the limit does not know which machine it is on.
I selected several files and only one converted.
This tool takes one file at a time. Doing several at once would multiply the memory in use, which is the thing most likely to fail on a phone.
Convert them one after another. Nothing is kept between them, so there is no state to reset.
The tab reloaded itself part-way through.
The browser ran out of memory and restarted the page. At sizes approaching 25 MB this is the failure a phone hits first, and it looks like a crash rather than an error.
Try a smaller file, close other tabs, or run it on a computer. Nothing was uploaded or lost — the original file is untouched on your device.
The result opened in the wrong program.
The output is a .tsv file, and your system opens that extension with whatever it was told to. Nothing about the conversion decides it.
Open it from inside the program you want, or change the default for .tsv in your system settings. The file itself is correct.
Frequently asked questions
- Is my file uploaded?
- No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser. The file never leaves your device and no request carrying its contents is made.
- Why not just replace the commas?
- Because commas inside quoted values are part of the data. A blind replacement would split "Smith, Ada" into two columns. Parsing the file properly avoids that.
- Is this reversible?
- Yes. The TSV to CSV tool converts the result back, and the values are unchanged.
- What happens to a value that already contains a tab?
- It is quoted, the same way a comma-containing value has to be quoted in CSV. A tab inside a field would otherwise look like a column boundary and split the row, so the value is wrapped and the reader on the other end puts it back together. Values containing newlines are handled the same way.
- Do I need to install anything or create an account to use CSV to TSV converter?
- No, to all of it. CSV to TSV converter runs inside the browser you already have, with no sign-up, no download, no watermark on the result, and no cap on how many files you convert. There is nothing to uninstall afterwards either, because nothing was installed.
- Does CSV to TSV converter work offline?
- Once the page has loaded, yes. The conversion runs on your device, so it needs no connection to do the work. The first visit fetches the page and the code that does the converting; after that a lost connection stops nothing, and a converted file appears exactly as it would online.
- How large a file can CSV to TSV converter handle?
- The limit is 25 MB. It is a deliberate one rather than a technical ceiling: the real constraint is memory, and a file that decodes to more than the device can hold fails in a way that is hard to explain. Phones run out well before laptops do, which is why the limit is set where it is.
- Can I convert several files at once with CSV to TSV converter?
- Not here: this tool takes one file at a time, because what it does depends on choices you make about that particular file. Convert them one after another, or look at the batch converters in the same category, which are built for a folder at a time.