Convert Excel to CSV

How to convert Excel to CSV

The fastest way: drop your .xlsx (or .xls) into the converter above, pick the sheet, choose the delimiter, click Download CSV. Runs entirely in your browser using SheetJS — no upload, no signup.

1. Upload your Excel file. Drag the .xlsx (or .xls) onto the upload area. Multi-sheet workbooks are supported.
2. Pick the sheet. If your workbook has multiple tabs, the dropdown lets you choose which one to export.
3. Pick the delimiter. Comma is the standard; use semicolon for European Excel locales; tab if your data contains commas.
4. Click Download CSV. A clean file saves to your downloads folder.

Going the other direction? Use CSV to Excel instead.

How to convert Excel to CSV in Excel itself

If you’d rather stay inside Excel, the standard Save As flow works:

1. Open the workbook.
2. Select the sheet you want to export.
3. Go to File → Save As.
4. Pick the format CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv). Don’t pick the plain “CSV” option on European installs — that uses semicolons.
5. Excel warns you that only the active sheet will be saved. Click OK.

Repeat for each sheet you need. The converter at the top of this page handles all sheets in one pass.

How to convert XLS to CSV in Excel

The older Excel binary format (.xls, used by Excel 97–2003) follows the same steps. The converter above accepts both .xlsx and .xls natively — drop the file, get a CSV. No need to upgrade your file to .xlsx first.

Excel file to CSV: why convert?

CSV is the universal data exchange format. Almost every system can import it: databases, BI tools, APIs, scripts, e-commerce platforms. Excel (.xlsx) is great for humans but a friction-point for machines.

Convert Excel to CSV when:

• Importing into a database — COPY FROM ... CSV (Postgres) or LOAD DATA INFILE (MySQL) need plain CSV.
• Loading into a BI tool — Tableau, Looker, PowerBI, Metabase all accept CSV uploads.
• Feeding a script — Python’s pandas and Node’s csv-parse libraries read CSV in one line.
• Reducing file size — a CSV is much smaller than the equivalent .xlsx.
• Avoiding compatibility issues — recipients without Office can still open CSV.

If you’re going to share the CSV with non-technical recipients, consider CSV to PDF instead — locked layout, opens identically everywhere.

Converting Excel to CSV format: picking the right delimiter

Excel’s default delimiter depends on your system locale:

If you save as plain “CSV” on a French Excel install, you get a semicolon-separated file — which then fails to import on a US machine. To always emit standard commas, use the converter above (always commas regardless of locale) or pick the explicit CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) option in Excel’s Save As dropdown.

If you’ve already exported a file with the wrong delimiter, fix it without redoing the export — drop it into our delimiter converter and pick the format you actually need.

Common Excel-to-CSV problems

”Special characters look wrong”

You exported as plain CSV (Windows-1252) and the importer expects UTF-8. Re-save with CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited), or use the converter above (always UTF-8).

”Multiple sheets disappeared”

CSV is one flat table. Excel’s Save As only exports the active sheet. To export every sheet, select each one and save individually — or use the converter above and run it once per sheet.

”Numbers gained decimals like 1.5e+15”

Excel auto-converts long numeric strings (credit card numbers, IDs) to scientific notation. Format the column as Text before exporting, or paste values back as text.

”Dates exported as 45601”

Excel stores dates as serial numbers internally. If they export as numbers instead of dates, format the column as Date (YYYY-MM-DD) before saving — or fix in the destination tool.

”My CSV opens in one column when I re-open it”

That’s a delimiter mismatch on the import side, not the export. See why your CSV shows in one column for the fix.

”Quotes appearing around fields”

Standard CSV behavior — fields containing commas, line breaks or quote characters get wrapped in double quotes per RFC 4180. This is correct and parsers handle it.

Excel to CSV converter: what about formulas?

Formulas don’t survive the trip to CSV — you get the computed values instead. If you need the formulas preserved, keep the file as .xlsx and use JSON to Excel when going the other direction.

How to inspect the result

After conversion, drop the resulting file into our CSV viewer to confirm the rows and columns landed where you expected. If anything looks off, you can re-export with a different delimiter — the converter above is a one-click round-trip.

Privacy: nothing is uploaded

The conversion uses SheetJS running in your browser. Your Excel file never reaches a server — verify in DevTools → Network. Useful when your spreadsheet contains internal data, customer records, or anything sensitive.

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Frequently asked questions

• Is the Excel to CSV converter free?

  Yes. Unlimited conversions, no signup, no watermark, no file-size cap on the free tier.

• Does it handle .xls (old Excel format)?

  Yes. The converter accepts both .xlsx (modern) and .xls (Excel 97–2003) files. SheetJS reads both natively.

• What if my workbook has multiple sheets?

  When you upload a multi-sheet workbook, a dropdown lets you pick which sheet to export. Each sheet becomes its own CSV — re-pick and re-download for the next one.

• Why is my CSV using semicolons instead of commas?

  Excel's Save As uses your system's list separator, which is a semicolon on most European Windows installs. The converter above always emits whatever delimiter you pick — comma is the default.

• Are formulas preserved?

  No. CSV is plain text — only the computed values survive. If you need formulas, keep the file as .xlsx.

• Are my files uploaded?

  No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser using SheetJS. Your Excel file never reaches a server. Open DevTools → Network to verify.

• What's the maximum Excel file size?

  Files up to ~50 MB work smoothly on most devices. Past that, performance depends on your browser memory.