Free online DB to CSV converter

A spreadsheet, reporting system, or import tool may require CSV when it cannot open the original database file. Exporting to CSV also provides a simple way to share or edit one table without installing database software.

What the DB format is

.db is a generic filename extension, not a single database format. It commonly identifies a SQLite database, but applications may also use it for proprietary databases or other storage formats; dBase tables usually use the .dbf extension.

A database can contain multiple tables, indexes, relationships, views, queries, and metadata. Conversion therefore normally exports one table or query to one CSV file rather than converting the complete database into an equivalent CSV document.

What the CSV format is

CSV stores tabular data as records and fields in plain text. Commas are the usual field delimiter, although semicolons or tabs may be used when the data contains many commas. Fields containing delimiters, quotation marks, or line breaks must be quoted according to CSV rules.

CSV is supported by Excel, LibreOffice Calc, Google Sheets, Python, R, command-line tools, and most data-import systems. It is portable and easy to inspect, but it does not preserve table relationships, indexes, database queries, permissions, formulas, or most database-specific data types.

Convert a SQLite database with sqlite3

SQLite is a common format behind files named .db. Install the SQLite command-line program, open a terminal in the folder containing the file, and inspect its tables:

sqlite3 database.db

.tables

At the SQLite prompt, export a selected table with column headers:

.headers on
.mode csv
.once output.csv
SELECT * FROM table_name;
.once stdout

Replace database.db, output.csv, and table_name with the actual names. A query is preferable to SELECT * when you need specific columns, filtering, or a defined order:

.headers on
.mode csv
.once customers.csv
SELECT id, name, email FROM customers ORDER BY id;

A direct shell command produces the same type of export:

sqlite3 -header -csv database.db "SELECT * FROM table_name;" > output.csv

Use a graphical SQLite application

Open the file in a SQLite client such as DB Browser for SQLite. Select the required table, then use File → Export → Table(s) as CSV file or the equivalent export command. Enable column headers and choose UTF-8 encoding when the application provides those options.

Export a dBase table

If the source is a dBase table, it will commonly have a .dbf extension rather than .db. Open it in software that supports dBase, such as LibreOffice Calc, then use File → Save As, choose Text CSV (.csv), and set the field delimiter, text-quote character, and character encoding. Confirm whether the exporter should include column names.

Convert without installing software

You can use the converter on 101convert.com for free: upload the DB file, choose CSV, and download the exported file. Do not upload confidential, personal, financial, or regulated data unless the service’s handling and retention policies are acceptable.

Check the exported data

• A .db extension does not identify the format reliably. If SQLite cannot open the file, determine which application created it before selecting an exporter; the file may be proprietary, encrypted, damaged, or unrelated to SQLite.
• Export every required table separately. Combining related tables into one CSV requires a query or an external data-processing step and may duplicate records.
• Use UTF-8 to preserve non-ASCII characters. If Excel displays garbled text, import the file through its data-import function and explicitly select UTF-8.
• NULL values may become empty fields, and dates, Boolean values, decimal separators, and binary data may be represented differently by different exporters. Binary fields may need separate extraction rather than CSV export.
• Spreadsheet programs can interpret identifiers beginning with zero as numbers, convert long integers to scientific notation, or round values beyond their supported precision. Inspect the CSV as text or import sensitive columns as text.
• CSV contains no schema or access controls. Keep the original database as the authoritative copy when relationships, data types, indexes, or audit information must be preserved.