Convert text to CSV
Paste rows of text or open a .txt file, check how the columns split, and download a properly quoted CSV. Free, no sign-up, and nothing leaves your browser.
Nothing is uploaded — the text stays in this tab.
Free · no sign-up · processed on your device
How it works
01
Paste the text or open the file
Drop a .txt, .log, or .tsv file, or paste rows copied from a spreadsheet, a PDF, an email, or a terminal.
02
Check how the columns split
The separator is detected for you. If the preview looks wrong, pick the right one — tab, semicolon, pipe, aligned spaces, or any character you choose.
03
Download the CSV
Fields that contain a comma, a quote, or a line break are quoted properly, so the file opens correctly in Excel, Sheets, and any importer.
Text becomes CSV when two things are true: the columns are separated by a single consistent character, and any field that contains that character, a quote, or a line break is wrapped in quotes. Most text that looks tabular already fails the second half, which is why a renamed .txt file so often imports as one broken column. This converter parses your text first, shows you the table it found, and then writes the CSV from scratch with the quoting rules applied.
Text formats it reads
- Tab-separated rows copied straight out of Excel or Google Sheets.
- Semicolon exports from systems that use a comma as the decimal mark.
- Pipe or caret delimited output from databases and log files.
- Fixed-width tables pasted from a PDF, an email, or a terminal window.
- Text that is already CSV but has broken quoting you want rewritten cleanly.
- Plain lists, one item per line, converted to a single-column CSV.
Once the data is CSV you can turn it into a table image, or skip the CSV entirely and build an .xlsx workbook from the same text.
Common questions
- How do I convert text to CSV?
- Paste the text into the converter above. The separator between your columns is detected automatically, the parsed table is shown as a preview, and the Download button gives you a .csv file. If the automatic guess is wrong, choose the separator yourself from the dropdown.
- How do I convert a TXT file to CSV format?
- Drop the .txt file onto the converter, or use Open a .txt file. The file is read in your browser, split into columns, and offered back as a .csv with the same name. Nothing needs to be renamed by hand, and no import wizard is involved.
- How do I create a CSV file from scratch?
- Type or paste your rows into the box above, one record per line, with a tab or a comma between the fields, then download the result. You do not need Excel, and you should not create one by renaming a .txt file: a CSV also has to quote any field containing a separator, a quote, or a line break, and the converter applies those rules for you.
- My text uses tabs or semicolons instead of commas. Does that work?
- Yes. Tab, semicolon, pipe, and single custom characters are all supported as input, and columns aligned with runs of spaces are handled too. You can also choose which separator the CSV itself uses, which is useful when the software you are importing into expects semicolons.
- Why does Excel put my whole CSV in one column?
- That usually happens when Excel expects a semicolon separator, which is the default in many European locales. Set the CSV separator to Semicolon before downloading, and leave Excel-friendly encoding on so the file carries the byte order mark Excel uses to detect UTF-8.
- What happens to commas and quotes inside a field?
- They are quoted according to RFC 4180. A field containing the separator, a double quote, or a line break is wrapped in quotes, and quotes inside it are doubled. Existing quoting in your input is understood first, so a correctly quoted field survives the round trip intact.
- Is my text uploaded anywhere?
- No. The conversion is plain JavaScript running in your browser tab. The text, the file, and the resulting CSV never leave your device, and nothing is stored.
- What if some rows have fewer columns than others?
- The converter tells you when the rows are uneven and pads the short ones with empty fields, so the CSV you download is a valid rectangular table that importers will accept.