Import screens want CSV: Shopify product imports, email platforms, ad platforms, CRMs and most databases. Excel can save a CSV, but only of the sheet that is open, in an encoding that depends on which "CSV" you pick from a long list, and with dates written however your computer's region likes them.
This converter reads the .xlsx file in your browser and gives you control over each of those choices. Convert one sheet or every sheet at once, and download clean UTF-8 that import tools accept.
How to convert Excel to CSV
- Drop your .xlsx, .xlsm or .xltx file on the box (up to 100 MB). Every worksheet is read; chart sheets are skipped.
- Click a sheet name to preview its first 20 rows. Each sheet shows its size in rows and columns, and hidden sheets are labeled.
- Choose the delimiter: comma, semicolon, tab (saved as .tsv) or pipe.
- Choose the encoding: UTF-8 for imports and code, or UTF-8 with BOM if people will open the CSV in Excel.
- Pick a date format and line endings.
- Click Download this sheet as CSV, All sheets (ZIP) or Copy CSV.
What goes into the CSV
A CSV holds values only. Here is how the converter writes each kind of cell:
| In the workbook | In the CSV |
|---|---|
| Text, including 02134 typed as text | Exactly as stored: 02134 |
| Numbers | The stored value at Excel's 15 digits of precision, so 0.1+0.2 is written as 0.3, not 0.30000000000000004 |
| Formatted numbers (currency, percent, thousands) | The underlying value: 25% is written as 0.25 and $1,234.50 as 1234.5 |
| Dates and times | In the format you choose: 2026-07-04, 07/04/2026, 04/07/2026 or the Excel serial number; date-times add the time, such as 2026-07-05 14:30:00 |
| TRUE and FALSE | TRUE and FALSE |
| Formulas | The last calculated result saved in the file |
| Errors such as #N/A | The error text |
| Merged cells | The value in the first cell, the rest empty (the same as Excel's own CSV export) |
| Colors, fonts, comments, images, charts | Dropped |
In a test workbook with an orders sheet, a notes sheet and a hidden sheet, the first data row came out as 1001,2026-07-04,Dana Ortiz,02134,89.5,TRUE,2026-07-05 14:30:00,0.25, and a customer name containing a comma and quotes was written as "Li, Wei ""LW""", the standard CSV way of keeping it in one field.
Choosing the right settings for the job
| Destination | Delimiter | Encoding | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify product or customer import | Comma | UTF-8 | ISO |
| Email platforms, CRMs, Google Ads uploads | Comma | UTF-8 | ISO or as the tool asks |
| Colleague opening it in Excel, US | Comma | UTF-8 with BOM | US |
| Colleague opening it in Excel, most of Europe | Semicolon | UTF-8 with BOM | EU |
| Databases and code | Comma or tab | UTF-8 | ISO |
Shopify's help center asks for UTF-8 CSV files, and its product CSV has its own column names, so convert a sheet that already follows that layout. Our guide to Shopify CSV imports lists the columns and the mistakes that make an import fail.
Line endings rarely matter. Windows (CRLF) is the default because the CSV standard, RFC 4180, uses it and Excel expects it. Choose Mac and Linux (LF) only when a script or a command-line tool on Linux or macOS complains about stray characters at the end of each line. Cells that contain line breaks, such as multi-line addresses or product descriptions, are quoted so the breaks stay inside the cell whichever option you pick.
Why not just use Save As in Excel?
You can, and for a single sheet on your own computer it works. The catch is the list of CSV types in the Save As menu. On Windows, CSV (Comma delimited) uses the old Windows code page, so characters outside Western European languages, and emoji, are lost or replaced with question marks. CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) is the one to pick for imports. The delimiter Excel uses also follows your region: on a computer set to German or French, Excel writes semicolons. And each Save As converts only the sheet you are looking at, then asks you to confirm that the other sheets will be left out.
This converter writes UTF-8 every time, uses the delimiter you choose regardless of region settings, and handles all sheets in one pass. It also helps when you do not have Excel at all, for example on a Chromebook or a phone, since it runs in the browser.
Example: a product sheet for a Shopify import
Say your supplier sends catalog-oct.xlsx with three sheets: Products, Prices and an old hidden sheet called Archive. You built a Shopify-format sheet on the Products tab. Drop the file, click Products, and check the preview: SKUs with leading zeros look right and the variant prices show plain numbers. Keep comma, UTF-8 and ISO dates, then click Download this sheet as CSV. The file is named catalog-oct-products.csv, ready for Products > Import in Shopify admin. Leave Protect leading zeros off, since Shopify would read the equals sign as part of the SKU.
Formulas and the "no saved result" warning
Excel saves the last calculated value of every formula in the file, and that is what goes into the CSV. Files written by some scripts and apps contain formulas without a saved result, because nothing ever calculated them. When that happens the converter tells you how many formulas had no value, for example "1 formula had no saved result", and leaves those cells empty instead of guessing. Open the file in Excel, LibreOffice or Google Sheets, let it recalculate, save it, and convert again. In our test, the same workbook re-saved by LibreOffice produced the correct total of 1324.067 in the CSV.
Leading zeros when the CSV goes back into Excel
The CSV keeps 02134 exactly as it is. The trouble starts if someone double-clicks that CSV in Excel, which turns it into 2134. If the file is meant for people rather than an import, tick Protect leading zeros: values with leading zeros and long digit strings are written as ="02134", which Excel shows as 02134. Do not use this option for imports, because other systems will read the equals sign and quotes literally. For a file people open, sending an .xlsx is often better; the CSV to Excel converter makes one with codes kept as text.
All sheets at once
Excel's own Save As CSV saves only the active sheet, and Google Sheets' File > Download > CSV also downloads one sheet at a time. All sheets (ZIP) converts every sheet that has data in one click, each named after its sheet, such as orders-q3.csv and notes.csv. Hidden sheets are left out unless you tick Include hidden sheets in the ZIP, which helps when a workbook keeps lookup tables or old data on hidden tabs.
Limits
- Old .xls files (Excel 97-2003) and password-protected workbooks cannot be read; the converter says so. Open them in Excel or Google Sheets and save as .xlsx without a password first. OpenDocument .ods files need the same step.
- Number formats other than dates are not applied. If you need "$1,234.50" exactly as displayed, add a text column with the TEXT function in Excel first.
- Dates before March 1, 1900 can be off by one day because of a leap year bug Excel has kept for compatibility. Workbooks using the 1904 date system, common in old Mac files, are detected and handled.
- The preview shows 20 rows and 40 columns; the CSV includes everything. In our test, a workbook with 200,000 rows and 7 columns was read in about 3 seconds and its CSV written in about 1 second.
If the CSV is headed for a bulk product update, Bulk Edit Pro in AM Jarvis edits prices, sale prices, SEO titles and meta descriptions across a Shopify or WooCommerce catalog with a preview and one-click undo, without the export, edit and import loop. Our guide on bulk editing Shopify products compares the options.