Updated · Built and checked by the PlinzoTools team, formulas tested against published sources
Convert delimited data between comma, semicolon, tab, and pipe.
a;b;c
1;2;3Not every "CSV-like" file actually uses commas -- semicolon-delimited files are common in regions where commas are the decimal separator, and tab-delimited (TSV) files are common for pasted spreadsheet data. This tool converts delimited data from one delimiter to another, correctly preserving quoted fields through the conversion.
Paste your delimited data, choose the source delimiter it currently uses, and choose the target delimiter to convert to. The result updates instantly.
The data is parsed using the source delimiter (correctly handling quoted fields that may contain the delimiter character itself), then re-serialized using the target delimiter, re-quoting any field that now needs it (i.e. contains the new delimiter, a quote, or a newline).
To convert delimited data all the way into JSON instead, see the CSV to JSON Converter.
The most common cause of a bad conversion is selecting the wrong From delimiter. The tool does not detect the delimiter for you: it splits the text using exactly the character you chose. If the file is really semicolon-separated but From is set to comma, each row is treated as a single field, and converting to another delimiter will appear to do nothing. A quick check is to look at the first line of your data. In many European locales spreadsheet software writes semicolons because the comma is used as the decimal separator, so a file exported from such a system often needs From set to semicolon. Tab-separated exports, often saved with a .tsv or .txt extension, need the Tab option.
Take a hypothetical two-row comma file where the first row is name, note and the second row is Ada, followed by a quoted field reading "likes tea, coffee". The comma inside the quotes belongs to the field, not to the structure, so the parser reads two columns correctly. If you convert to semicolon, that field no longer needs quotes because it contains no semicolon, and the output is a clean two-column row. If you go the other way and the field contains the target delimiter, the tool wraps the field in double quotes and doubles any quote characters inside it. This is the standard way to keep delimited data reversible, so a round trip from comma to semicolon and back gives you the same values.
Parse rows with the From delimiter, then write each field with the To delimiter, adding quotes only where the field needs them.
If the result shows extra quotation marks you did not expect, some fields probably contain the new delimiter or a line break, which forces quoting. That is correct behavior, not an error. If a spreadsheet application still shows everything in one column after you open the converted file, check the delimiter your software expects for the current regional settings, or use its text import feature and choose the delimiter explicitly. For very large files, pasting into a browser text box can be slow on older devices, so consider working in slices.
In regions where a comma is the decimal separator (e.g. many European locales use "3,14" for pi), spreadsheet apps often export CSV with semicolons instead, to avoid ambiguity with decimal numbers.
Yes -- fields are parsed respecting quotes first, then re-quoted only if the new delimiter (or a quote/newline) actually appears in that field's value.
The preset covers the most common delimiters (comma, semicolon, tab, pipe) -- for an unusual custom delimiter, the underlying logic supports any single character, though this tool's interface offers the common presets.
Most likely the From delimiter does not match the file, so every line was read as a single field. Check which character actually separates the values in your first row and select it as From.
No. Quoted fields are parsed as a unit, so a comma inside quotes stays part of the value. The output only adds quotes to a field when it contains the target delimiter, a quote or a line break.
No. Only the field separator is converted. Number formatting inside fields is left exactly as it was.
Yes. Any of the four choices (comma, semicolon, tab, pipe) can be used as either the From or the To delimiter.
Reference: MDN Web Docs