┌─ FILE ANALYSIS ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ┐
│ DEVELOPER : N/A (Universal)
│ CATEGORY : Data
│ MIME TYPE : text/csv
└ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ┘
What is a CSV file?
CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is a plain text format for storing tabular data. Each line represents a row, and values within each row are separated by commas (or other delimiters). CSV is the simplest and most universal format for data exchange between spreadsheets, databases, and applications.
How to open CSV files
- Microsoft Excel (Windows, macOS) — Spreadsheet view
- Google Sheets (Web) — Free, online
- LibreOffice Calc (Windows, macOS, Linux) — Free
- Any text editor — Raw text view
- Python / pandas — Programmatic analysis
Technical specifications
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Delimiter | Comma (or semicolon, tab) |
| Encoding | UTF-8, ASCII, etc. |
| Quoting | Double quotes for special characters |
| Header | Optional first row as column names |
| Standard | RFC 4180 |
Common use cases
- Data export: Database and spreadsheet exports
- Data import: Bulk data loading
- ETL pipelines: Extract-Transform-Load workflows
- Reporting: Simple data reports