SmartQueryTools

Change Delimiter in TSV Files Online

Change the delimiter in TSV files — switch from comma to pipe, semicolon, tab, or any custom character — in your browser.

How to change Delimiter in TSV files

  1. Drop your CSV file onto the upload area. The current delimiter is detected automatically and the first 200 rows are previewed as a table.
  2. Under Output delimiter, choose Comma, Semicolon, Pipe or Tab, or choose Custom and type a single character.
  3. Click Download with new delimiter. The whole file is written out again with the new separator.
  4. Check the file name. Tab output is saved with a .tsv extension and every other choice with .csv.

Your file is processed locally in your browser and is never uploaded. The free limit is 50 MB per file; larger files work if your device has the memory for them.

Worked example

A hardware supplier exports its price list as a comma-separated CSV. The warehouse system of a German partner only imports semicolon-separated files.

Input (TSV)

sku	description	unit_price	stock
BLT-M6	Bolt, M6 x 20	0.12	5400
NUT-M6	Hex nut M6	0.05	12000
WSH-M6	Washer; flat, M6	0.03	8000
SCR-4	Wood screw 4 x 40	0.09	

Settings

  • Output delimiter: Semicolon ;

Result

skudescriptionunit_pricestock
BLT-M6Bolt, M6 x 200.125400
NUT-M6Hex nut M60.0512000
WSH-M6Washer; flat, M60.038000
SCR-4Wood screw 4 x 400.09NULL

The values do not change, only the separator. The header line becomes sku;description;unit_price;stock. "Bolt, M6 x 20" no longer needs quotes because a comma is now ordinary text. "Washer; flat, M6" contains the new delimiter, so it is written as "Washer; flat, M6" in double quotes. The missing stock value becomes an empty field at the end of the last line.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which delimiters can I choose?

Comma, semicolon, pipe and tab are one-click presets. Custom accepts any single character you type, such as ^ or ~. The download button stays disabled until you enter one.

What happens if a value already contains the new delimiter?

That field is wrapped in double quotes, and any double quotes inside it are doubled. Fields that contain a line break are quoted too. Other fields are written without quotes.

Does the preview show the new delimiter?

No. The preview is the parsed table, which looks the same whatever the separator. The new delimiter is applied only when you download.

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