TSV ↔ CSV Converter
Switch between tab-separated and comma-separated tables.
Overview
The TSV-CSV converter switches a table between tab-separated and comma-separated formats. Both formats describe the same rectangular data, but tools and humans usually prefer one over the other depending on context.
TSV is the default copy-paste format from spreadsheets and many database CLIs; CSV is the universal data-exchange format expected by import wizards and APIs. Analysts, developers, and data engineers reach for a tsv to csv converter when bridging a tool that emits one format to a downstream consumer that expects the other.
How it works
Both formats use a delimiter to separate fields and newlines to separate rows. TSV uses \t; CSV uses ,. The converter swaps the delimiter and re-applies the right quoting rules. CSV (per RFC 4180) requires quoting around cells with commas, quotes, or newlines, and doubles embedded quotes. TSV typically doesn't quote, but escapes embedded tabs and newlines.
Both directions handle the quirks correctly: a CSV cell "Foo, Bar" becomes the TSV cell Foo, Bar (no comma escaping needed), and the TSV cell Line 1<TAB>Line 2 becomes the CSV cell "Line 1\tLine 2" (the literal tab is preserved). Round-tripping is lossless when cells don't contain both delimiters.
Examples
TSV input:
name<TAB>age<TAB>city
Alice<TAB>30<TAB>Berlin
Bob<TAB>42<TAB>Lisbon
CSV output:
name,age,city
Alice,30,Berlin
Bob,42,Lisbon
CSV with commas:
name,city
Alice,"Berlin, Germany"
TSV output:
name<TAB>city
Alice<TAB>Berlin, Germany
FAQ
Why doesn't my CSV import correctly into Excel after conversion?
Excel's CSV behaviour depends on locale: in many European locales it expects semicolon-separated values, not commas. Convert to "Excel CSV (semicolon)" if you're sharing the file with someone on a European Windows install.
What about pipe-delimited files?
Pipe (|) is another common delimiter used by older database exports. The converter accepts any single-character delimiter as a source format and emits any single-character delimiter as the target.
Does it preserve quoting style?
CSV output always quotes only when necessary (RFC 4180). If you need every cell quoted unconditionally (some BI tools require it), enable the "always quote" option.