Convert Excel to CSV – with the right delimiter & UTF-8

Why Excel’s CSV export often causes trouble

When you pick “Save as → CSV” in a German Excel, it writes the file with a semicolon delimiter and in Windows-1252 instead of UTF-8. This is historical, because the comma is the decimal separator in that locale. An import target expecting a “real” CSV with comma and UTF-8 cannot handle it – accents break and columns slip.

The core issue: CSV is not a strictly defined format. Delimiter, character set and line ending are not fixed. Whoever passes on a CSV must know what the target system expects – otherwise it guesses, and often wrongly.

Comma or semicolon? Choosing the right delimiter

International systems, APIs and most programming languages expect the comma as delimiter. Many continental European programs and older Excel imports expect the semicolon. When in doubt, ask the target system or try both variants.

In the SmashDash spreadsheet converter you can output the CSV with a comma or a semicolon – so you serve both worlds without having to rebuild the file in an editor afterwards.

Character set: why UTF-8 is the safe choice

UTF-8 can represent every character – accented letters just like emojis. It is the de-facto standard on the web and in modern programs. The converter always outputs CSV in UTF-8, so that “Müller” still reads “Müller” after import and not “Müller”.

Convert Excel to CSV – step by step

Instead of clicking through Excel’s export dialogs, you convert the file straight in the browser – no upload, no installation:

• Drag the XLSX into the spreadsheet converter; with several sheets, pick the one you need.
• Choose “CSV” as the target format and set the appropriate delimiter.
• Download – the CSV is UTF-8 encoded and can be imported into any system.

Multiple sheets: only one becomes the CSV

A CSV holds only a single table – there is no concept of “tabs” like in Excel. If your XLSX has several sheets, you must pick one or export each separately. The converter shows the available sheets so you can select the right one deliberately.

Before exporting: check your data

Because CSV stores no formulas, formatting or data types, everything is reduced to plain text on export. If your table contains duplicates, empty rows or numbers stored as text, those errors travel into the CSV. A short cleaning step in Clean Studio beforehand ensures the exported file is tidy.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my exported CSV use a semicolon instead of a comma? That is Excel’s default in a German locale. Deliberately pick the comma as delimiter in the converter when the target system expects an international CSV.

Do accented characters survive the CSV export? Yes, as long as the file is saved as UTF-8. The SmashDash converter always uses UTF-8 so accents and special characters arrive correctly.

Can I pack several Excel sheets into one CSV? No. A CSV always contains just one table. Export each sheet separately or merge the data beforehand.

All SmashDash tools at a glance

SmashDash brings five free spreadsheet tools together in one place – each runs entirely in the browser, with no upload and no account:

• Turn Excel and CSV into interactive, filterable charts. – Turn Excel and CSV into interactive, filterable charts.
• Design charts with your own values and export them as SVG or HTML. – Design charts with your own values and export them as SVG or HTML.
• Convert Excel, CSV and JSON into XLSX, CSV, JSON, Markdown or HTML. – Convert Excel, CSV and JSON into XLSX, CSV, JSON, Markdown or HTML.
• Remove duplicates and empty rows, normalise number formats. – Remove duplicates and empty rows, normalise number formats.
• Merge, split and compress PDFs and extract tables. – Merge, split and compress PDFs and extract tables.

All processing happens locally in your browser – your files are never uploaded, fully privacy-friendly.