CSV to TSV Converter

This tool converts comma-separated values (CSV) into tab-separated values (TSV) that paste cleanly into Excel, Google Sheets, databases and command-line tools. TSV is often more reliable than CSV because tabs rarely occur inside data, so columns line up without quoting tricks.

How it works

The CSV is read by an RFC 4180-aware parser that correctly handles quoted fields, commas inside quotes, doubled quotes ("") and both LF and CRLF line endings. Each parsed row is then re-joined with tab characters. Because TSV has no quoting mechanism, any tab or line break inside a value is collapsed to a single space so the columns stay aligned. You can also pick a different input delimiter if your source uses semicolons or pipes.

Example

Given this CSV with a quoted field containing a comma:

name,role,city
Ada,Engineer,London
"Bao, Jr.",Designer,Hanoi

it produces (tabs shown as →):

name→role→city
Ada→Engineer→London
Bao, Jr.→Designer→Hanoi

The comma inside “Bao, Jr.” is preserved as part of the value, and the quotes are dropped because TSV does not need them.

Why choose TSV over CSV

The tab character is almost never present inside real data — names, addresses, numbers, and descriptions rarely contain one. That means TSV rarely needs quoting, which makes it simpler to parse, easier to read in a text editor, and more reliable when pasting into spreadsheets.

Common CSV problems that TSV avoids:

• Column drift — a comma inside a value that wasn’t properly quoted shifts every subsequent column.
• Quoting inconsistency — different exporters apply quoting rules differently; TSV has no quoting rules to get wrong.
• Paste ambiguity — pasting CSV into a spreadsheet often results in the whole row landing in a single cell. Pasting TSV splits cleanly on tabs.

When to keep CSV instead

TSV is not always better. Stay with CSV when:

• Your data actively contains tab characters (rare, but possible in freeform text fields).
• The downstream system specifically requires RFC 4180 CSV with quoting support.
• The file will be sent to a partner whose tooling expects .csv with comma delimiters.

Command-line equivalent

If you prefer the terminal, the same conversion can be done with sed:

# Simple case (no quoted fields with embedded commas)
sed 's/,/\t/g' input.csv > output.tsv

For files with quoted fields, a proper parser is needed — which is what this tool provides.

Pasting TSV into a spreadsheet

TSV is the format that spreadsheets natively understand when you paste. In Excel or Google Sheets:

1. Select the TSV output from this tool.
2. Copy it to the clipboard.
3. Click the target cell in your spreadsheet.
4. Paste — the data splits into columns automatically because the spreadsheet interprets tab characters as column delimiters.

This works reliably even when values contain commas, quotes, or apostrophes, because none of those characters are the TSV delimiter.

Command-line tools that prefer TSV

Many Unix command-line tools are simpler to use with tab-separated data:

• cut -f2 — extracts the second tab-separated field. The equivalent for CSV requires quoting-aware tools.
• sort -t$'\t' -k2 — sorts on the second field.
• awk -F'\t' '{print $3}' — prints the third field.

These tools treat the tab as a reliable delimiter without needing quoting rules, making TSV a more practical format for shell pipeline work than CSV.

Everything runs locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded, which makes it safe for confidential spreadsheets and exports.