About the Text to TSV Converter
TSV, tab-separated values, is the format you get when you copy cells from a spreadsheet, and it pastes back into a spreadsheet cell by cell. This tool turns lines of plain text into TSV. Pick what separates the values on each line, such as runs of spaces, pipes, commas or colons, and the tool writes one row per line with a tab between the values. Because tabs rarely appear inside data, no quotes are needed unless a value contains a line break or a quote. Paste the result into Google Sheets or Excel and every value lands in its own cell. Everything runs in your browser.
Updated October 2026
How to use the Text to TSV Converter
- 1Paste your text into the left box, one row per line.
- 2Choose what separates the values on each line.
- 3Set trimming, skipping of empty lines and filling of short rows.
- 4Check the TSV and the row and column count on the right.
- 5Press Copy and paste it into a spreadsheet, or Download it as text.tsv.
What TSV is
A TSV file has one record per line, and the values on a line are separated by a tab character. Because a tab is invisible, it looks like aligned columns in a text editor. Almost every spreadsheet and database tool reads TSV, and it is the native format of the clipboard when you copy a range of cells.
Why convert text to TSV
Data often arrives as aligned text, for example output from a command line, an exported report or a table typed in an e-mail. Converting it to TSV lets you paste it into a spreadsheet in one step, then sort, filter and calculate. Doing it by hand with the Text to Columns wizard works too, but repeating it for many files is tedious.
- Command line output to a spreadsheet
- Plain-text reports to sortable tables
- Copy from an e-mail table into Sheets
Choosing how to split
Two or more spaces fits text that was aligned with spaces. Any spaces fits lists of single words and numbers. Pipes, colons and commas split lines from logs and simple exports. Custom text covers any other separator. Check the column count under the result to confirm the split is what you expected.
A quick example
Take the lines Name, City, Age separated by two spaces, followed by two rows of data. Choose two or more spaces, and the result is three tab-separated lines. Paste into Excel and the headings sit in row one, each value in its own cell.
Phone and computer
On a phone, copy the result and paste it into a spreadsheet app; the tabs are kept by the clipboard. On a computer you can also download text.tsv. For files that must use commas, use Text to CSV Converter instead.
Good to know
Cells with leading or trailing spaces are trimmed unless you switch trimming off. If a value contains a tab itself, the lines are split there too when you choose Tab, which is why a different separator is better for such text. Line endings are normalised to a single new line. To go back to plain text use the TSV to Text Converter, and TSV to JSON Converter prepares the table for code.
Features
- Tab-separated output for direct pasting
- Nine ways to split lines
- Trim and skip empty lines
- Fill short rows to equal width
- Row and column count
- No upload
Frequently asked questions
Why TSV and not CSV?
Tabs almost never occur inside data, so TSV needs far less quoting than CSV and pastes into spreadsheets cleanly. It is also what spreadsheets put on the clipboard when you copy cells.
How do I get the result into Google Sheets?
Press Copy, click the first cell in Sheets and paste. The tabs make each value land in its own column.
Do values with commas need quotes?
No. In TSV a comma is just a character. Quotes are only added around values that contain a quote or a line break.
Can I split on two or more spaces?
Yes, and that is the default. It keeps names such as New York together, which splitting on every space would break.
What if my lines have different numbers of values?
Switch on Fill short rows to pad them, so every row has the same number of columns.
Is my text uploaded?
No. It is converted in your browser.