Free online EXCEL to CSV converter

A database, script, or older business system may require a CSV file instead of an Excel workbook. Conversion creates a smaller plain-text table that is easier to exchange, archive, and process with software.

What the EXCEL format is

EXCEL commonly refers to Microsoft Excel workbook files, including .xlsx, the older binary .xls, and macro-enabled .xlsm files. Excel workbooks are used for calculations, financial reports, inventory records, contact lists, charts, pivot tables, and data exchanged with accounting or enterprise systems.

A workbook can contain multiple worksheets, formulas, formatting, charts, images, comments, filters, macros, and other structure. These features are stored in the workbook but cannot be represented by a standard CSV file.

What the CSV format is

CSV means comma-separated values. It is a plain-text representation of a rectangular table: rows are separated by line breaks and fields are usually separated by commas. A field containing a delimiter, quotation mark, or line break is enclosed in double quotation marks, and an embedded quotation mark is written as two double quotation marks.

CSV files are supported by databases, programming languages, command-line tools, spreadsheet applications, and data-import utilities. They are usually smaller and easier to inspect than workbooks, but each file represents one table and does not contain worksheet tabs, formulas, formatting, or workbook metadata.

How to convert an EXCEL file to CSV

Microsoft Excel

1. Open the workbook in Microsoft Excel and select the worksheet to export.
2. Choose File → Save As or File → Export.
3. Choose CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv) when that option is available.
4. Enter a filename and location, then select Save.
5. Accept Excel’s warning that only the active worksheet can be saved in CSV format.

For a workbook with several worksheets, repeat the process for each sheet and use distinct filenames such as customers.csv and orders.csv. Saving a CSV does not convert all sheets into one file.

LibreOffice Calc

1. Open the workbook in LibreOffice Calc and select the required sheet.
2. Choose File → Save As and select Text CSV (.csv) as the file type.
3. In the export dialog, choose UTF-8 for the character set, comma for the field delimiter, and double quotation marks for the text delimiter.
4. Select Save and confirm that the current sheet should be exported.

Without desktop software

You can convert the file for free on 101convert.com without installing software: upload the Excel file, select CSV as the output format, run the conversion, and download the result. Do not upload confidential or regulated data unless the service is approved for that use.

Quality and compatibility limitations

• Only the active worksheet is exported. Export each required sheet separately.
• Formulas are not preserved. The CSV normally contains the values displayed after calculation, not formulas or cell references. Recalculate the workbook before exporting if results may be out of date.
• Formatting and workbook features are discarded. Fonts, colors, borders, column widths, merged-cell structure, charts, images, comments, data validation, filters, macros, and pivot tables do not survive.
• Encoding affects non-ASCII text. Prefer the CSV UTF-8 option for accented characters and non-Latin scripts. Some older applications require a legacy encoding or a UTF-8 byte-order mark.
• Delimiters depend on the receiving system. Some locales and applications expect semicolons because commas are used as decimal separators. If every row appears in one column, import the file with the correct delimiter or export it using the recipient’s required separator.
• CSV has no reliable cell types. Programs opening it may reinterpret dates, decimal values, percentages, leading zeros, long identifiers, and scientific notation. For accurate imports, specify column types in the receiving application instead of opening the file by double-clicking.
• Quoted fields must remain quoted. Commas, line breaks, and quotation marks inside a value require CSV escaping. Use a converter or spreadsheet export rather than removing quotation marks manually.