About the CSV Delimiter Changer
Not every CSV uses a comma. Excel in many European countries saves with semicolons, database dumps often use tabs or pipes, and some importers accept only one kind. This tool rewrites the separator. Choose the current one or let the tool detect it, pick the new one, and the whole file is converted. Quoted values, such as a name with a comma inside, are read and written correctly, so a comma inside a cell is quoted when the new separator is a comma but left plain when it is a semicolon. It runs in your browser and shows the rows and columns found.
Updated October 2026
How to use the CSV Delimiter Changer
- 1Paste your CSV into the box.
- 2Leave the current separator on Detect, or choose it yourself.
- 3Choose the new separator: comma, semicolon, tab or pipe.
- 4Read the note with the number of rows and columns and the separator it found.
- 5Copy the result or download it.
Why separators cause trouble
The three most common import problems with a CSV are the wrong separator, the wrong text encoding and the wrong line endings. The separator is the easiest to fix. If a file opens in a spreadsheet with everything squashed into one column, the program expected a different separator from the one in the file.
Changing it with a tool that understands quotes is safer than a find and replace, which would also change the commas inside quoted cells.
Choosing the new separator
Use a comma for the most widely accepted format. Use a semicolon when your spreadsheet uses a decimal comma. Use a tab when you want to paste straight into a spreadsheet, or when the data contains many commas. Use a pipe when the text contains commas and tabs and you want an unambiguous symbol.
- Comma: most tools
- Semicolon: European Excel
- Tab: pasting into sheets
- Pipe: text with many commas
Check your result
Look at the row and column counts under the box. Every row should have the same number of columns. If the count looks odd, set the current separator by hand instead of using detection.
Examples
A file saved by a German spreadsheet might read name;city;amount followed by Ann;Pune;1,50. Converting it to commas would break the amount, so the tool quotes it as "1,50" and the columns stay correct. A log dump with pipes can be turned into commas so that a spreadsheet opens it in separate columns.
Because each cell is read before it is written again, no value is split or merged by accident. If you need a tab-separated file instead of a semicolon one, CSV to TSV Converter does it in one step, and TSV to CSV Converter reverses it. CSV Tools handles the rest of your cleanup when the separators are fixed.
Features
- Comma, semicolon, tab and pipe
- Automatic detection of the current separator
- Correct handling of quotes and line breaks
- Shows rows and columns found
- Copy or download
- Private: nothing is uploaded
Frequently asked questions
How do I change a CSV from comma to semicolon?
Paste the file, choose semicolon as the new separator and copy the result. Cells that contain a semicolon are put in quotes automatically so that the columns stay aligned.
Why does my Excel CSV use semicolons?
In countries where the comma is the decimal mark, such as Germany, France and Italy, Excel uses the semicolon as the list separator when it saves CSV. Changing it to a comma lets tools made for the English-style format read the file.
Can the tool detect the delimiter by itself?
Yes. With Detect selected, it looks at the first lines and picks the separator that gives the most consistent number of columns. You can override it if it guesses wrongly.
What happens to commas inside quotes?
They are treated as part of the text. A cell such as "likes tea, coffee" stays one cell. When you convert to a semicolon, the quotes are removed if they are no longer needed.
Can I convert CSV to TSV with it?
Yes. Choose tab as the new separator. There is also a dedicated CSV to TSV converter if you prefer one.
Is the file uploaded?
No. The conversion runs in your browser and nothing is sent to a server.