CSV
CSV (comma-separated values) is a family of table formats, loosely around RFC 4180. There is no single global dialect. Delimiters, encodings, and header rows vary.
Common uses
- Spreadsheets
- Data exports
- Simple ETL between systems that will not speak JSON
Strengths
- Opens in Excel and Google Sheets
- Easy to glance at for small tables
Weaknesses
- No nested structure
- Dialect chaos (comma vs semicolon, BOM, quoting)
- Type information is absent
Compatibility. UTF-8 is the ConvertPass default. Excel on Windows sometimes wants a UTF-8 BOM or a locale delimiter.
Size and quality. Compact for flat tables. Terrible for nested documents.
How to open it. A text editor shows quoting honestly. Spreadsheets guess types and can destroy leading zeros.
How to convert it. CSV to JSON keeps values as strings. JSON to CSV stringifies nested values instead of flattening them silently.
Security and privacy. Formula injection in spreadsheets is a real issue: cells starting with = can execute when opened in Excel. ConvertPass does not prefix apostrophes automatically; inspect before opening in a spreadsheet.
Related tools
- CSV to JSON
Parse real CSV into JSON without breaking on commas inside quotes.
- JSON to CSV
Turn a JSON array into CSV without dropping nested values on the floor.
- SQL formatter
Pretty-print SQL without sending the query to a database or a server.
Related comparisons
Last reviewed 16 August 2026.