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CSV Formatter & Column Aligner

Data

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INPUT

Auto Process

CSV Data

Input Options

Delimiter

Has Header Row

Text Qualifier

Formatting Options

Output Mode

Output Delimiter

Quoting Style

Remove Duplicate Rows

Trim Whitespace

Sort by Column

OUTPUT

Client Side

Formatted Output

Data Preview

Conversion

JSON

Markdown Table

SQL INSERT

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Guide

CSV Formatter & Column Aligner

Format and align CSV data with two output modes: RFC 4180 normalized CSV with proper quoting and escaping, or pretty-printed column-aligned display for human readability. Includes delimiter auto-detection, data preview table, validation, and export to JSON, Markdown table, and SQL INSERT statements.

How to Use

Paste your CSV data into the input area. Select the input delimiter (comma, tab, semicolon, pipe — or let it auto-detect). Choose an output mode: RFC 4180 for standards-compliant CSV, or Pretty-Print for aligned columns with spaces. Configure quoting style, duplicate row removal, whitespace trimming, and optional sorting. View the formatted output, check the data preview table, and export as JSON, Markdown, or SQL.

Features

RFC 4180 Normalization — Properly quoted fields, correctly escaped embedded quotes (doubled), CRLF line endings, and consistent delimiter usage. Produces standards-compliant CSV that any parser can handle.
Pretty-Print Alignment — Columns padded with spaces so all values align vertically. Header row highlighted with a separator line. Perfect for terminal display, documentation, or quick visual inspection of data.
Delimiter Support — Input and output delimiter selection: comma, tab, semicolon, or pipe. Auto-detection analyzes the input to determine the most likely delimiter.
Quoting Options — Quote all fields, quote only when needed (fields containing delimiter, quotes, or newlines), or never quote. Handles embedded quotes and multiline fields correctly.
Data Preview — Rendered HTML table with highlighted header row, sortable columns, row and column counts.
Validation — Detects inconsistent column counts, unescaped quotes, empty rows, and trailing delimiters. Reports RFC 4180 compliance status.
Data Cleaning — Remove duplicate rows, trim whitespace from cell values, sort by any column.
Export — Copy as JSON (array of objects or array of arrays), Markdown table, or SQL INSERT statements with configurable table name.

RFC 4180 Standard

RFC 4180 defines the standard format for CSV files: fields separated by commas, records separated by CRLF, optional header row, fields containing commas/quotes/newlines must be enclosed in double quotes, and embedded double quotes are escaped by doubling them (“”). This formatter ensures your CSV output meets this standard for maximum compatibility with spreadsheets, databases, and data processing tools.

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What is RFC 4180?

RFC 4180 is the Internet standard that defines the CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file format. It specifies rules for field separation (commas), record separation (CRLF), quoting (double quotes around fields containing special characters), and escaping (doubling embedded quotes). While many CSV implementations vary from this standard, RFC 4180 compliance ensures your CSV files work correctly with any compliant parser — including Excel, Google Sheets, database import tools, and programming language CSV libraries.

When should I quote CSV fields?

Fields must be quoted when they contain the delimiter character (comma by default), double quotes, or line breaks (newlines). It’s also good practice to quote fields with leading/trailing whitespace if that whitespace is significant. The ‘Quote only when needed’ option handles this automatically — it only adds quotes around fields that require them. ‘Quote all fields’ is the safest option for maximum compatibility, while ‘Never quote’ produces the most compact output but may break if fields contain special characters.

What is the difference between CSV and TSV?

CSV (Comma-Separated Values) uses commas as field delimiters, while TSV (Tab-Separated Values) uses tab characters. TSV has an advantage: since tab characters rarely appear in data, fields almost never need quoting. CSV is more widely supported by tools and standards (RFC 4180), but TSV is common in bioinformatics, linguistics, and data exchange where fields might contain commas. This tool supports both — select Tab as the delimiter for TSV input or output.

Is my data sent to a server?

No — all parsing, formatting, and validation happens in your browser using JavaScript. Your CSV data never leaves your device. There are no API calls, no server-side processing, and no data storage. This is important for sensitive data like customer records, financial data, or internal databases. All formatting, preview rendering, and export conversions run entirely client-side.

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