TSV to CSV
Tab-separated into comma-separated.
Tab-separated into comma-separated.
How to use TSV to CSV
- Paste your tab-separated rows into the box
- Let it swap tabs for commas and quote tricky cells
- Copy or download the resulting CSV
About TSV to CSV
TSV to CSV turns tab-separated values into comma-separated values right in the page. Paste rows copied from Excel, Google Sheets, or a .tsv file, and the tool splits each line on its tab characters and rejoins the cells with commas so the result is valid CSV. Any cell that already contains a comma, a double quote, or a line break is wrapped in quotes, which is the standard CSV escaping that stops a stray comma from splitting one column into two.
It exists because the two formats look almost identical but are not interchangeable: renaming a .tsv to .csv leaves tabs where an importer expects commas, so the columns collapse. This converter does the actual swap for you, which is quicker than writing a Python script, an awk or sed one-liner, or clicking through Excel's text import wizard when you only need to convert a file once.
Every line is treated the same, so a header row comes through unchanged, and the tool expects real tab characters between columns, meaning data separated by spaces will not be split. Paste as many rows as you like; there is no row cap.
The whole conversion happens in your browser, so the data you paste is turned into CSV on your own device and nothing is uploaded to a server. It is free, needs no account or sign-up, has no usage limits, and there is nothing to install.
Frequently asked questions
- Is it free, and do I need an account?
- Yes, it is completely free, with no account and no sign-up. There are no usage limits and nothing to install. Paste your TSV and copy the CSV it produces.
- Is my data uploaded anywhere?
- No. The conversion happens locally in your browser, so the tab-separated data you paste never leaves your device. Nothing is sent to a server or stored.
- How do I use it?
- Copy your tab-separated rows, for example straight from a spreadsheet, and paste them into the box. The tool splits each line on the tab characters and joins the cells with commas, then you copy the CSV result.
- How do I convert a .tsv file into a .csv file?
- Open the .tsv file in any text editor or spreadsheet, copy all of its rows, and paste them into the box here; then copy the CSV output and save it with a .csv extension. Renaming the file alone does not work, because the tab characters still have to be replaced with commas.
- What happens to cells that contain a comma?
- They are wrapped in double quotes so the comma stays inside the cell instead of splitting it into two columns. Cells that contain quotes or line breaks are quoted the same way, which is standard CSV behaviour.
- Does it detect a header row?
- No. Every line is treated the same way, so the first row is converted just like the rest. The tool also expects real tab characters between columns, so data separated by spaces will not be split.
- Can I convert CSV to TSV with this?
- No, this tool only goes one direction, from TSV to CSV. To do the reverse and turn commas back into tabs you would need a dedicated CSV to TSV converter, because simply swapping every comma for a tab would mangle any quoted cell that itself contains a comma.
- How do I convert TSV to CSV in Python?
- The pandas library does it in effectively two lines: pandas.read_csv('file.tsv', sep='\t').to_csv('file.csv', index=False), and it handles the quoting for you. The built-in csv module works too, reading with csv.reader(f, delimiter='\t') and writing with csv.writer. This tool saves you the round trip when you just need one file converted.
- How do I convert TSV to CSV in Excel?
- Use Data then Get Data (or the older From Text/CSV import) and set the delimiter to Tab, then Save As and choose CSV, so Excel adds the commas and quoting on export. It is more steps than pasting here, but handy when the data is already open in a workbook.
- How do I convert TSV to CSV on the command line or in bash?
- A quick tr '\t' ',' or an awk one-liner works for simple data, but it breaks on any cell that already contains a comma. For safe command-line conversion use csvkit's csvformat -T (or in2csv), which quotes the fields correctly. Pasting into this tool avoids the escaping pitfalls entirely.
- What is the difference between TSV and CSV?
- Both are plain-text tables. CSV separates columns with commas and quotes any value that contains a comma, while TSV separates them with tab characters, which rarely appear inside data so they often need no quoting. Spreadsheets copy to the clipboard as TSV, which is why pasted spreadsheet data arrives here tab-separated.