How to Convert Excel to CSV Without Breaking Accents or Commas
Convert XLSX and XLS spreadsheets to CSV the right way: every sheet, correct delimiters for your region, and UTF-8 so accents and symbols survive.
CSV is the simplest way to move data between spreadsheets, databases, mailing tools and code. It's also easy to get wrong: names turn into gibberish, columns shift, or only the first sheet gets exported.
The quick way
- Open Excel to CSV and add your .xlsx, .xls or .ods file.
- Pick the delimiter and keep "Excel-friendly encoding" ticked.
- Download one CSV per sheet, or all of them as a ZIP.
The spreadsheet is read in your browser, which matters when it's a customer list or payroll file.
Comma or semicolon?
In the US, UK and most English-speaking countries, CSV files use commas. In much of Europe, where the comma is the decimal separator, Excel expects semicolons. If your CSV opens in Excel with everything in column A, the delimiter is the problem.
Why accents turn into strange characters
Excel on Windows assumes CSV files use an old regional encoding unless the file starts with a UTF-8 marker (a "BOM"). Without it, "José" becomes "José". The Excel-friendly option adds the marker. If you're importing the CSV into a database or script instead, untick it.
What gets lost
CSV is plain text: formulas become their last calculated value, and colours, fonts, merged cells, charts and multiple sheets don't exist in CSV. Keep the original spreadsheet.
Going the other way
CSV to Excel turns a CSV back into a proper workbook. For apps and APIs, Excel to JSON uses the first row as field names.