Why not just replace tabs with commas in a text editor?

Because any value that already contains a comma will split into extra columns, and nothing will warn you. A real conversion quotes those values.

Can I pick semicolons instead?

Yes. You can set any delimiter, and DataTray defaults to your Windows list separator, which is what makes a file open in columns on a German or French install.

Does it change my original?

No. A new file is written; the source is untouched.

Free converter

TSVCSV

TSV to CSV Converter

A find-and-replace of tabs for commas is the obvious approach and it is wrong — the moment a value contains a comma, the file breaks. DataTray re-writes the file properly, quoting only where it needs to.

Windows 10/11 (x64) · Free · No account

Drop in your files — Minimal quoting: values are only quoted where the content requires it.

Why convert

Why search-and-replace breaks this

TSV is usually chosen because the data contains commas. Swapping tabs for commas therefore turns every address and description into extra columns, and the damage is silent — the file still looks like a CSV. A real conversion quotes those values instead.

Feeding a TSV into a tool that only accepts comma-separated input.
Normalising a mixed folder of extracts to one delimiter.
Preparing a file for an import that specifies CSV.
Fixing a TSV that a previous naive conversion already mangled.

How it works

Convert TSV to CSV in a few clicks

1
Open the TSV
The tab delimiter, encoding and header row are detected and shown.
2
Choose the output dialect
Comma by default, or the Windows list separator, with the quoting rule stated in words.
3
Convert
Values containing the delimiter are quoted; the rest are left alone.

The details

TSV to CSV, at a glance

Quoting: Minimal — only where a value contains the delimiter, a quote or a newline
Encoding: UTF-8 with BOM by default for Excel; overridable
Line endings: CRLF by default
Batch: A folder at a time

Questions