How to Convert Excel to CSV
CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is the universal language of data. While Excel's XLSX format is great for spreadsheets with formulas, formatting, and multiple sheets, CSV is what databases, APIs, data analysis tools, and countless applications expect. If you need to move data between systems, CSV is almost always the answer.
What Is CSV and Why Use It?
CSV is a plain text format where each line represents a row and values are separated by commas. It's the simplest possible way to represent tabular data. Here's why it matters:
- Universal compatibility — Every programming language, database, and data tool can read CSV files.
- No vendor lock-in — Unlike XLSX, CSV doesn't require Microsoft Office or specific software.
- Small file sizes — Without formatting overhead, CSV files are often 10-50x smaller than equivalent XLSX files.
- Import/export standard — CRMs, e-commerce platforms, email tools, and analytics platforms all use CSV for data import and export.
- Version control friendly — CSV files work well with Git and diff tools because they're plain text.
When Do You Need Excel to CSV Conversion?
- Database imports — Loading data into MySQL, PostgreSQL, or MongoDB.
- CRM uploads — Importing contacts into Salesforce, HubSpot, or Mailchimp.
- Data analysis — Working with pandas, R, or other data science tools.
- E-commerce — Bulk uploading products to Shopify, WooCommerce, or Amazon.
- Automation workflows — Feeding data into Zapier, Make, or custom scripts.
How to Convert Excel to CSV Online
- Open the converter — Go to the Excel to CSV converter.
- Drop your Excel file — Drag your .xlsx or .xls file onto the page.
- Download your CSV — The conversion happens instantly in your browser. Download the result.
No Microsoft Office required. No file upload. The conversion happens entirely on your device using JavaScript, so your spreadsheet data stays private.
Convert your spreadsheet now — free, instant, completely private.
Convert Excel to CSV →What Happens During Conversion?
When you convert Excel to CSV, here's what changes:
- Formatting is removed — Colors, fonts, bold text, borders — all gone. CSV is plain text only.
- Formulas become values — A cell with
=SUM(A1:A10)becomes its calculated result. - Multiple sheets become separate files — CSV can only represent one table, so multi-sheet workbooks produce multiple CSV files.
- Special characters are escaped — Commas, quotes, and newlines within cell values are properly escaped.
- Date formats may change — Excel's internal date representation gets converted to readable date strings.
Common Pitfalls to Watch For
- Leading zeros — ZIP codes like "01234" may lose the leading zero when opened in Excel again. The CSV preserves them, but re-importing needs care.
- Encoding issues — If your data contains non-English characters, make sure your CSV is saved as UTF-8. Our converter handles this automatically.
- Delimiter confusion — Some European locales use semicolons instead of commas as delimiters. If your target system expects a specific delimiter, verify the output.
- Large numbers — Very large numbers (like credit card numbers stored as numbers) may lose precision. Store them as text in Excel first.
- Empty rows and columns — Clean up your spreadsheet before converting. Trailing empty rows can cause issues in some import tools.
CSV to Excel: Going the Other Way
Need to convert a CSV file back to Excel format? We have a tool for that too. The CSV to Excel converter creates a proper XLSX file from your CSV data, which you can then format, add formulas to, and work with in Excel or Google Sheets.
Related Data Conversion Tools
- CSV to JSON — Convert spreadsheet data to JSON for APIs and web apps.
- JSON to CSV — Flatten JSON data into a spreadsheet-friendly format.
- CSV to TSV — Switch from comma to tab delimiters.
- JSON Formatter — Pretty-print and validate JSON data.
All tools on This 2 That process files locally in your browser. Your data never leaves your device.