How to Convert Excel to CSV File? 2 Different Approaches

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(Note: This guide on how to convert Excel to CSV is suitable for all Excel versions including Office 365)

When you create, add, or download data into Excel and save them, the data will be saved as a Microsoft Excel Worksheet file with a .xls or .xlsx extension. 

There might be instances where you have to convert one file format to another. One such file conversion is to convert Excel to CSV.

In this article, you’ll learn what a CSV file is and how to convert Excel to CSV using 2 different ways.

You’ll Learn:

• What Is a CSV File Format?
• How to Convert Excel to CSV file?
  • Using the Save As Method
    • Save As CSV(Comma Delimiter)
    • Save As CSV(UTF-8)
  • Using Online Converters

Related Reads:

How to Convert Word to Excel? 3 Easy Ways

How to Use CONVERT Function in Excel? A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Convert Formulas to Values in Excel? 6 Easy Methods

What Is a CSV File Format?

CSV stands for Comma Separated Values, which is a unique file format. The data in CSV files are separated by commas (,) known as Delimiters. 

The main purpose of creating the CSV file was to import data from databases. Each line of the file acts as a row and each data separated by a comma acts as a cell. This helps store data in the form of tables as plain text. 

This way, the CSV files can be used to create entire sheets and databases when necessary. This helps in the transfer of data among programs and databases seamlessly. 

Another advantage of the CSV file format is that the file can be opened in programs like LibreOffice. However, the data in CSV files need to be clearly organized and properly separated by delimiters such as commas or double quotes. 

There are 4 types of CSV formats that Excel 2021 supports:

• CSV(comma delimited) – This file format is compatible with Windows and other Windows-related software.
• CSV(Macintosh) –  As its name suggests, this file format is used to save the data to make it compatible with Mac operating systems.
• CSV(MS-DOS) – Makes the file compatible with MS-DOS versions. 
• CSV UTF-8(comma delimited) – This format is made up of Unicode Transformation Format with 8-bit encoding, meaning this format retains and saves all symbols and special characters. Additionally, this format also has backward compatibility with the ASCII format.

How to Convert Excel to CSV file?

Let us now see how to Excel to CSV file format using Excel’s built-in methods easily and efficiently. 

Using the Save As Method

Save As CSV(Comma Delimiter)

This is a very common and straightforward method to convert a variety of files into different file formats. Use the Save As method to convert Excel to a CSV file when you save it to your computer.

Consider an Excel worksheet that consists of marks scored by 13 students in 5 subjects. To convert this Excel file to a CSV file:

• First, open the Excel workbook which you want to convert to CSV file format.

• Navigate to the File tab.

• Click on Save As. This opens the Save As pane to the right. Click on More Options to specify the storage location, name, and format of the file. 

Note: You can also open the Save As dialog box by pressing the function key F12.

• In the Save As type dropdown, choose any of the CSV formats. In this case, let us choose CSV(comma delimited).

• Click on Save.

• The file will be saved in the desired location.

When you save the Excel file as CSV, some of the features might be lost. Excel throws a warning right away as a ribbon. If you want to preserve all the features, save the file back in Excel format. Else, click on Close or Don’t show again.

When you open the CSV file in any other application, it can be seen that each data is separated by a comma. Also, the file will lack any formatting, symbols, objects, and shapes from the original worksheet. 

Warning: This is one of the easiest and most effective methods to convert an Excel file to a CSV file. However, saving your file in CSV(Comma Delimiter) format does not retain any special characters. 

Suggested Reads:

How to Convert XML to Excel? – 2 Easy Methods 

How to Convert Excel to Word? 2 Easy Methods

How to Convert Text to Numbers in Excel? 5 Easy Methods

Save As CSV(UTF-8)

Consider an example, where you have a list of symbols and their corresponding names. You’ll be able to see all these characters and symbols when you open this file in Excel. But, after you convert this to a CSV file, a ? will appear in the place of certain characters. 

This means that these characters are missing when you convert the file to CSV format. This includes special characters, symbols, hieroglyphics, or language fonts. When you use this method, any character other than ASCII characters will be lost.  

To avoid this, you can choose to export the file as CSV(UTF-8) instead of using CSV(Comma Delimited).

• To convert an Excel worksheet to a CSV file, first, open the workbook and navigate to the required worksheet. Here, we have created a new worksheet in the existing workbook which consists of some symbols and characters.

• When you convert this worksheet into a CSV file(Comma Delimited), some characters other than ASCII characters are missing and appear with a ?.

• To make these characters appear in the CSV file, navigate to File.

• Click on Save As and select More Options from the Save As pane. 

• This opens the Save As dialog box. In the dialog box, select the name, storage location, and in the Save as type dropdown CSV UTF-8(Comma Delimited). 

• Excel throws a warning since we are exporting more than one worksheet. Click OK.

• This converts Excel to a CSV file which includes all the special characters.

Now, you can see all the symbols and special characters outside of ASCII characters too.

Using Online Converters

Another way to convert Excel to CSV file format is to use online converters. There are a variety of online converters that you can use to convert with just the click of a button.

Just open the online converter in any web browser. Either navigate and select or drag and drop the Excel file. 

Click on Convert.

This instantly converts the Excel file into a CSV file. 

Some of the best online Excel to CSV converters are:

• conversiontools.io
• aconvert.com
• onlineconvertfree.com
• convertio.co
• zamzar.com

Also Read:

How to Insert PDF in Excel? 5 Easy Ways

How to Calculate Standard Deviation in Excel? 2 Simple Ways

How to Use Fractions in Excel? An Easy Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Closing Thoughts

Converting the Excel (.xls) file to CSV file format has a variety of advantages. It helps in the easy transfer of data and can contain data related to different fields. More importantly, this data can be easy to read since it is in a simple text format and it can be easily separated by a comma. 

In this article, we saw how to convert Excel to CSV using 2 different approaches. You can either use the built-in Save As option or use any online converters to help you convert Excel files to CSV files. 

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Simon Sez IT has been teaching critical IT software for over ten years. For a low, monthly fee you can get access to 130+ IT training courses by seasoned professionals.

Simon Calder

Chris “Simon” Calder was working as a Project Manager in IT for one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious cultural institutions, LACMA.He taught himself to use Microsoft Project from a giant textbook and hated every moment of it. Online learning was in its infancy then, but he spotted an opportunity and made an online MS Project course - the rest, as they say, is history!