TSV to CSV Converter
Convert tab-separated values to comma-separated values instantly. Paste text or upload a file.
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What is TSV to CSV?
TSV (Tab-Separated Values) uses tab characters as delimiters — common in scientific data, database exports, and Excel “Save As → Text (Tab delimited)”. CSV (Comma-Separated Values, RFC 4180) is more universal — supported by every data tool, programming language, and import wizard.
Common scenarios: copy-paste from Excel (paste produces tab-separated by default — convert for tools that need CSV), scientific data conversion (bioinformatics formats often use TSV), database exports (PostgreSQL COPY ... TO STDOUT outputs tabs by default), preparing for import wizards that prefer CSV.
TSV vs CSV
- TSV advantages: tabs rarely appear in data (cleaner separation than commas); no need to quote fields with commas
- CSV advantages: more widely supported; smaller files (tabs are 1 byte but commas are too)
- Both: line-based; first row often has headers; same import wizards usually support both
- Excel quirk: pasting cells into a text field produces TSV. Saving as CSV in Excel produces actual CSV with proper escaping
- Browser quirk: dragging/dropping spreadsheet cells into web forms often pastes TSV
Conversion example
# TSV input (tabs shown as ⇥) name⇥age⇥city Alice⇥30⇥Seoul, Korea Bob⇥25⇥Tokyo # CSV output (commas in city wrapped in quotes per RFC 4180) name,age,city Alice,30,"Seoul, Korea" Bob,25,Tokyo
How to Use
- Paste TSV data, or upload a
.tsv/.txtfile. - Click Convert.
- Review CSV — fields with embedded commas are auto-quoted.
- Copy or download as
.csv.
A Small Conversion That Solves a Real Annoyance
TSV separates fields with tab characters instead of commas. It exists because tabs almost never appear inside real data, whereas commas appear constantly — in addresses, in company names, in written notes. That makes TSV meaningfully less fragile.
You meet it when copying a range out of Excel or Google Sheets, because the clipboard format is tab-separated. Paste that into a text file and you have a TSV, whether you intended to or not. Database exports, bioinformatics datasets, and many analytics tools also default to it.
The problem is purely one of expectations. A great many import forms, e-commerce catalogue uploads, and older tools accept only CSV.
What the Conversion Has to Handle
Swapping tabs for commas is the easy part. The work is in what happens when the data itself contains commas.
A TSV field reading Smith, John is perfectly ordinary, because the tab is the only delimiter that matters. Written into a CSV unchanged, it would split into two columns and corrupt every row after it. So any value containing a comma, a quotation mark, or a line break must be wrapped in quotes, and internal quotation marks must be doubled.
That is the entire reason to use a converter rather than a find-and-replace. A search-and-replace of tabs to commas is exactly the operation that quietly breaks address and name data.
FAQ
What if my data contains commas?
Fields containing commas are automatically wrapped in double quotes per CSV standard (RFC 4180). Embedded quotes are escaped as “”. Data integrity is preserved.
Can I paste from Excel?
Yes — when you copy cells from Excel or Google Sheets, the clipboard data is tab-separated by default. Just paste directly into the input.
What about Asian language characters?
Korean / Chinese / Japanese characters pass through correctly via UTF-8. Save the resulting CSV as UTF-8 (with or without BOM) to ensure Excel reads it correctly.
Why does Excel open my CSV with garbled characters?
Excel auto-detects encoding poorly. After saving the CSV, open Excel → Data → From Text/CSV → choose UTF-8. Or use the BOM option (some download tools include this).
Can I use a different delimiter (semicolon, pipe)?
This tool outputs comma-delimited only (the standard CSV). For semicolons (Excel European locale) or pipes (engineering data), use desktop tools like csvkit or programming language libraries.
Why not just find and replace tabs with commas?
Because any value that already contains a comma will split into extra columns and shift every field after it. Proper conversion quotes those values so spreadsheets read them correctly.
Where do TSV files come from?
Most often from copying a range out of Excel or Google Sheets, since the clipboard uses tabs. Database exports and scientific datasets also commonly use TSV.
Is the header row treated specially?
No special handling is needed — it is converted like any other row, so whatever your first line contains stays your first line.
Will Excel open the result correctly?
Yes. Quoted fields are the standard CSV convention and every spreadsheet application understands them.
Can I convert CSV back to TSV?
The reverse conversion is straightforward, but be aware that a value containing a tab would then need quoting for the same reason commas do here. Tabs inside data are rare, which is why TSV is the more robust format of the two.
Does it handle line breaks inside a field?
Yes. Values containing newlines are quoted so the row structure survives, which is what breaks naive line-by-line processing of the result.
Why does Excel sometimes split my CSV wrongly?
Regional settings. In locales that use a comma as the decimal separator, Excel expects a semicolon between fields and will not split on commas. The import dialog lets you set the delimiter explicitly.
⚠️ Reference Only
Output is generated based on your input and is provided for reference. Results may vary depending on your specific use case, edge cases, or environment-specific behavior. We do not guarantee accuracy of conversions, validations, or computed values.
Always verify critical outputs against official documentation or production environments. We are not responsible for any decisions or losses based on these tool results.