Convert XLSX (Excel) to CSV
The first sheet of an Excel workbook becomes CSV values, formulas already calculated and ready to import.
Convert XLSX to CSV when the table is going to another program rather than to a person: accounting software, CRMs and inventory systems usually import through CSV.
What happens when you convert XLSX to CSV
An Excel workbook holds several sheets, formulas, styling and pictures. CSV is a poorer thing: one table of rows and values separated by commas. Anything CSV has no room for is dropped during the conversion.
The first sheet of the workbook goes into the file. If you need the second or the third one, move that sheet to the front and convert again.
- Formulas give way to their calculated result: the number you saw in the cell is what lands in the CSV.
- Styling stays in the original: fills, borders, column widths, merged cells, charts and embedded images.
- Values are wrapped in quotes and columns are split by commas, so a comma inside a cell does not break the layout.
- Accented and non-Latin text opens in Excel without picking an encoding.
To build a proper workbook with sheets and formulas back out of an export, use the CSV to XLSX converter.
How to convert
- Upload your XLSX workbook to this page.
- Check that the target format is CSV.
- Start the conversion and wait for the finished file.
- Download the CSV and open it in a spreadsheet editor or feed it to an import.
Who exports Excel to CSV
- Load a product list or price file into an online store whose import accepts CSV only.
- Hand an export to a developer: a script reads CSV in three lines, a workbook needs a library.
- Push a contact list into a mailing tool or a CRM.
- File a report on a bank or government template that fixes the file format.
- Keep an archive copy that any editor will still open ten years from now.
Frequently asked questions
Why did only one sheet make it into the CSV?
A CSV holds exactly one table and has no tabs. The first sheet of the workbook is exported; for the others, move the sheet you need to the front and convert the file again.
What happens to formulas?
The cell keeps its calculated result instead of the formula. To recalculate that data later you write the formula again in your spreadsheet editor.
Will non-English text break when Excel opens the file?
No. The file is marked so that Excel and Google Sheets read it as UTF-8 straight away, with no import wizard asking for an encoding.
What if the table is meant for a person to read?
Then CSV is the wrong target, because the styling disappears. For reading and printing use the XLSX to PDF converter.
More about the formats
What the format is, how to open it and how it differs from the others.