How to Convert TSV to CSV: Complete Guide
Last updated: 2026-04-15
TSV (Tab-Separated Values) and CSV (Comma-Separated Values) are nearly identical formats with one difference: the delimiter. TSV uses a tab character; CSV uses a comma. That one-character distinction trips up tools and scripts that expect a specific separator. Converting between them is trivial in theory but error-prone in practice, especially when cell values contain commas or tabs themselves.
Step-by-Step: Convert TSV to CSV
- Open Convertee and select TSV as the source and CSV as the target.
- Paste your TSV data or drop a
.tsvfile into the input panel. - Click Convert (Cmd+Enter).
- Copy the CSV or download the file.
Both formats are defined informally by RFC 4180 (CSV) and the IANA TSV media type registration. Convertee handles both correctly.
Before / After Example
Input TSV (tabs shown as →):
name age city
Alice 30 Seoul
Bob 25 New York, NYOutput CSV:
name,age,city
Alice,30,Seoul
Bob,25,"New York, NY"Notice that New York, NY is quoted in the CSV output because it contains a comma. Convertee adds quotes automatically where needed.
Why Not Just Find-and-Replace?
A naive find-and-replace of tab characters with commas breaks when cell values contain commas. The string New York, NY would become three separate columns instead of one. Proper conversion requires parsing each field, checking for special characters, and quoting as necessary. Convertee handles all of this automatically.
Common Use Cases
- Bioinformatics. Many genomics tools (BLAST, BED files, GTF annotations) output TSV. Downstream analysis in R or Python often expects CSV input.
- Database exports. MySQL's
SELECT ... INTO OUTFILEdefaults to TSV. Converting to CSV lets you import into Excel or Google Sheets cleanly. - Clipboard data. Copying cells from a spreadsheet and pasting into a text editor produces TSV. Convert to CSV for use in scripts or config files.
Edge Cases
- Embedded tabs in quoted fields. If your TSV has quoted fields containing literal tab characters, Convertee preserves them as-is in the CSV output.
- Mixed line endings. Files with
\r\n(Windows),\n(Unix), or\r(old Mac) line endings are all handled correctly. - Empty fields. Consecutive tabs (empty cells) produce empty comma-separated fields, preserving column positions.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Why not just use find-and-replace to convert tabs to commas?
- Because cell values may contain commas. A naive replacement would split a value like 'New York, NY' into two columns. Convertee properly parses each field and adds quotes around values that contain the CSV delimiter.
- Does Convertee handle mixed line endings?
- Yes. Files with Windows (\r\n), Unix (\n), or old Mac (\r) line endings are all parsed correctly. The output uses Unix-style line endings by default.
- Can I convert CSV back to TSV?
- Yes. Select CSV as the source and TSV as the target in Convertee. The conversion works both ways with proper handling of quoting and special characters.