Q: What delimiters are supported besides comma?

Four delimiters: comma `,` (standard CSV), tab `\t` (TSV — common from Excel and BI tools), semicolon `;` (common in European locales where the comma is a decimal separator), and pipe `|` (common in legacy database exports and some logging formats). Switch between them with one click; we re-parse instantly.

Q: Does the CSV output use CRLF or LF line endings?

We emit LF (`\n`) for compactness and Unix/Web consumability. RFC 4180 technically specifies CRLF (`\r\n`), but every modern parser — including Excel, Google Sheets, Python's csv module, Node.js libraries, and JavaScript browser code — accepts both. If you need strict CRLF, search-and-replace `\n` with `\r\n` in the output.

Question 1

What is the difference between CSV and JSON?

Accepted Answer

CSV (Comma-Separated Values, RFC 4180) is a flat, row-and-column text format optimized for spreadsheets and bulk export. JSON (JavaScript Object Notation, RFC 8259) is a hierarchical, key-value format used by REST APIs and configuration files. CSV is denser on disk but flat; JSON is more verbose but supports nesting. Most data pipelines convert between the two at integration boundaries.

Question 2

Is my CSV or JSON data sent to your server?

Accepted Answer

No. The entire conversion — parsing, validation, and serialization — runs in your browser via JavaScript. Your data never leaves your device, so this tool is safe for HR exports, financial reports, healthcare records, or any other sensitive payload that should not transit a third-party server.

Question 3

Does this tool support CSV files with quoted fields and commas inside values?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Our parser is RFC 4180 compliant. Quoted fields like `"Park, Min"` are recognized as a single value containing a comma; escaped quotes like `"She said ""hi"""` decode correctly; and newlines inside quoted fields are preserved as part of the value. Most legacy CSV converters silently break on these edge cases.

Question 4

What delimiters are supported besides comma?

Accepted Answer

Four delimiters: comma `,` (standard CSV), tab `	` (TSV — common from Excel and BI tools), semicolon `;` (common in European locales where the comma is a decimal separator), and pipe `|` (common in legacy database exports and some logging formats). Switch between them with one click; we re-parse instantly.

Question 5

How does automatic type inference work?

Accepted Answer

When enabled, the converter detects pure integers (`"123"` → `123`), decimal numbers (`"3.14"` → `3.14`), booleans (`"true"` → `true`), and null/empty values (`""` or `"null"` → `null`). Everything else stays as a string. Disable auto-type if your input contains identifier-like numbers (e.g. ZIP codes with leading zeros) where preserving the string form matters.

Question 6

How does the converter handle nested JSON when converting to CSV?

Accepted Answer

CSV is a flat format with no native support for nesting. When you convert a JSON array containing objects with nested objects or arrays, those nested values are JSON-stringified and embedded as a single cell. The resulting cell is properly quoted and escaped so it round-trips back to a valid string in any RFC 4180 parser.

Question 7

What is the maximum file size this tool can handle?

Accepted Answer

Because conversion runs in your browser, the practical ceiling is your device's available RAM — typically tens of megabytes on a phone and hundreds of megabytes on a desktop. For multi-gigabyte payloads, stream the conversion with a command-line tool like `jq` or `csvkit` instead.

Question 8

Does the CSV output use CRLF or LF line endings?

Accepted Answer

We emit LF (`
`) for compactness and Unix/Web consumability. RFC 4180 technically specifies CRLF (`
`), but every modern parser — including Excel, Google Sheets, Python's csv module, Node.js libraries, and JavaScript browser code — accepts both. If you need strict CRLF, search-and-replace `
` with `
` in the output.

Question 9

Can I convert TSV (tab-separated values) with this tool?

Accepted Answer

Yes — select the Tab delimiter. TSV is mechanically identical to CSV with a tab character instead of a comma as the field separator. All other RFC 4180 quoting and escaping rules apply.

Attribute	CSV (RFC 4180)	JSON (RFC 8259)
Structure	Flat: rows × columns	Hierarchical: objects + arrays
Native Types	String only	String, number, boolean, null, object, array
Best For	Spreadsheets, bulk export, BI tools	APIs, config, between services
Payload Density	High (no keys repeated)	Lower (keys repeated per object)
Schema Encoding	Header row only	Per-row keys

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