CSV to Delimited Converter
Not every system uses commas as delimiters. European Excel versions default to semicolons; mainframe systems often use pipes or tabs. This converter lets you change the delimiter in your CSV data to tabs, pipes, semicolons, or any custom separator.
About the CSV to delimited text format
The converter parses the input as standard CSV (comma-delimited) and re-outputs with your chosen delimiter. Quoted fields are handled correctly — if a field contains the new delimiter character, it is quoted in the output. Common options include tab (TSV), pipe (|), and semicolon (;).
Common use cases
- Converting a comma-CSV to tab-delimited for a mainframe import.
- Changing delimiter to semicolon for a European Excel user.
- Producing pipe-delimited output for a Unix awk/sed processing pipeline.
- Creating a custom-delimited file for a legacy system with non-standard separator requirements.
How to use this tool
- Upload your CSV file or paste the source content into the text box on this page.
- Click the convert button and wait for the browser to parse the input into consistent columns.
- Inspect the output preview — check row counts, column headers, and sample values before downloading.
- Download the result as delimited text and continue with your spreadsheet, database, or reporting workflow.
Tips for best results
- Select the delimiter your target system expects before converting.
- Preview the output to verify that fields with embedded delimiters are properly quoted.
- Use Fixed Width to CSV if the target system needs column-aligned text instead of delimiters.
Common pitfalls
If your input CSV already uses a non-comma delimiter, the parser may misread columns. Re-export the source with comma delimiters first, or use the editor to verify column alignment.
For more background on data formats and conversion workflows, read our format guides or browse the converter blog for step-by-step walkthroughs linked to each tool.