Free Excel to CSV / JSON Converter — Pixab AI

When to Use CSV vs JSON vs TSV

Choosing the right output format for your Excel data depends on what you plan to do with it next. Here is a practical guide.

CSV — the universal fallback. Comma-separated values is the most portable format for tabular data. Virtually every database, BI tool, analytics platform, and programming language can read CSV. Use CSV when you need to import data into MySQL, PostgreSQL, Google Sheets, Power BI, Tableau, Salesforce, or any other tool that accepts structured data. It is also the right choice when the recipients may not be technical — double-clicking a CSV opens it in Excel or Numbers on any computer.

JSON — for developers and APIs. JSON is the format of the modern web. Use it when you are building an application that will consume the data, when you need to feed data into a REST API, or when you are storing records in a NoSQL database like MongoDB or Firebase. The "array of objects" output (one JSON object per row, with column headers as keys) is the format most APIs expect. The "array of arrays" output (raw rows including the header) is useful for custom parsers or data transformation scripts. You can then validate or transform the JSON using our JSON Formatter.

TSV — for systems that use commas in data. Tab-separated values avoids the quoting complexities that arise when your data contains commas. If your spreadsheet has currency values (£1,200), comma-separated addresses, or other data with embedded commas, TSV is a safer choice than CSV because tab characters rarely appear in field data. Many text editors, Unix tools, and analytics systems handle TSV directly.

HTML Table — for documents and reports. The HTML table output wraps your data in a properly structured <table> element that you can paste directly into any HTML document, CMS, or web page. It is ideal for embedding spreadsheet data in blog posts, documentation, or reports. Style it with your site's CSS.

Excel vs CSV: Key Differences

Excel and CSV both store tabular data, but they are fundamentally different in what they can represent.

Excel stores more than data. An XLSX file is a ZIP archive containing XML files that describe not just the cell values but also cell formatting, formulas, named ranges, charts, multiple sheets, conditional formatting, data validation rules, macros (XLSM), pivot tables, and comments. A CSV stores none of these — just raw values in a text grid.

CSV is transparent and portable. You can open a CSV in any text editor and immediately read its contents. Excel files require a parser or spreadsheet application. CSV has no version compatibility issues — a CSV created in 1985 can be read by a Python script today without any conversion layer.

Numbers and dates can behave unexpectedly in CSV. Excel applies automatic type coercion — dates become date serials, numbers with leading zeros lose their leading zeros, and scientific notation is applied to long numbers. When converting to CSV, SheetJS preserves the display value from Excel rather than the underlying serial, which usually gives you the right result but is worth checking for date columns.

Multiple sheets are a key Excel advantage. A single Excel workbook can contain many sheets — budgets, assumptions, reference tables — in one file. Our converter lets you select which sheet to export. To export all sheets as separate CSV files, convert them one by one using the sheet selector and download each. If you need to work with the resulting CSV, try our CSV Converter to convert it further or parse it back into other formats.

JSON Arrays from Excel: Use Cases in Web Development

Converting Excel data to JSON is one of the most common tasks in web development. Here are the scenarios where it matters most.

Seeding a database or CMS. Product catalogs, blog post drafts, employee directories, and price lists are often maintained in Excel by non-technical teams. Converting to JSON lets developers import the data into a CMS, seed a development database, or upload records via an API without writing a custom XLSX parser.

Building static data files for frontend apps. React, Vue, and Next.js apps commonly use static JSON files for configuration, translations, or datasets that don't change often. If the original data lives in Excel, converting to JSON creates a file you can drop directly into your src/data/ folder.

Prototyping API responses. When building a frontend before the backend API is ready, JSON from Excel can serve as a mock API response. Tools like JSON Server can serve this data as a local REST API.

Data transformation pipelines. Node.js and Python scripts that process business data often need a step where Excel reports are converted to JSON for easier manipulation. This converter handles that step in the browser without writing any code.

Choosing between array-of-objects and array-of-arrays. Array of objects (e.g. [{"Name": "Alice", "Age": 30}, …]) is what most APIs and databases expect. Array of arrays (e.g. [["Name", "Age"], ["Alice", 30], …]) is useful when you want to process rows with index-based access or when the header row is not a reliable set of keys.

How to Open Excel Files in Excel Online and Google Sheets

Google Sheets. Go to sheets.google.com, click the folder icon (Open file picker), and upload your XLSX file. Google Sheets will convert it automatically. Most formatting, formulas, and data are preserved, though advanced Excel features like Power Query and pivot table slicers may not work. You can then export directly from Google Sheets as CSV via File → Download → CSV.

Excel Online (Microsoft 365). Upload the XLSX to OneDrive via onedrive.live.com, then open it. Excel Online supports most Excel features and is the most faithful browser-based rendering of XLSX files. You can download from Excel Online as CSV via File → Save As → Download a Copy → CSV.

Using Pixab AI's converter. If you just need the data in CSV, JSON, TSV, or HTML — without opening the file in a spreadsheet application — our tool is faster. Upload, select your sheet, choose your output format, and download. No account required, and nothing is uploaded to any server.

LibreOffice Calc (offline, free). LibreOffice opens XLSX files with excellent fidelity and can export to CSV, ODS, and HTML. It is a good choice if you need to view and edit before exporting and do not have Microsoft Office installed.

How the Excel Converter Works

Pixab AI's Excel converter uses SheetJS (xlsx), the most widely used JavaScript library for reading and writing spreadsheet files. Processing happens entirely in your browser.

Reading XLSX. SheetJS reads the XLSX file as an ArrayBuffer and parses the internal ZIP structure, extracting the XML sheets. Cell values, types (number, string, date, boolean), and display formats are all parsed. The library handles XLSX (modern), XLS (legacy binary format), and CSV input.

Sheet selection. If the workbook contains multiple sheets, a dropdown selector lets you choose which sheet to export. Each sheet is converted independently.

Output generation. SheetJS's utility functions handle the conversion: sheet_to_csv, sheet_to_json, and sheet_to_html all operate directly on the parsed sheet object. The result is a string (or Blob for binary formats) that is offered for download immediately.