Convert CSV to TSV Online
Tab-separated values (TSV) and comma-separated values (CSV) are both flat text formats for tabular data, but different tools and systems have strong preferences for one over the other. Many bioinformatics tools, legacy database systems, and certain spreadsheet import dialogs require TSV. If your data source exports CSV but your target system needs TSV, this converter handles the translation correctly — including proper handling of quoted fields, embedded commas within quoted strings, and newlines within cells. The conversion respects RFC 4180 CSV parsing rules so no data is corrupted when fields contain special characters. The output is clean TSV ready to paste or download, and the converter runs entirely in your browser for complete privacy.
FAQ
- What is the difference between CSV and TSV?
- Both formats store tabular data as plain text. CSV uses a comma as the field delimiter; TSV uses a tab character. TSV fields rarely need quoting because tabs seldom appear in data, making the format simpler to parse.
- What happens to fields that contain commas?
- In CSV, such fields are wrapped in double quotes. When converting to TSV, the quotes are removed and the comma is left as-is since tabs are the new delimiter, so commas no longer need escaping.
- Can I convert back from TSV to CSV?
- Yes, use the TSV to CSV converter. The process is symmetric — swap the delimiter and add quoting where needed.