Text to Columns Splitter
Split delimited or fixed width text into columns with automatic delimiter detection, quoted field handling, column type inference and output as aligned text, CSV, TSV, Markdown or JSON.
Last reviewed by the Radiatus Cloud team
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The delimiter is rarely the whole problem
Splitting on a comma works until a field contains one. Real delimited data quotes such fields, and the quote character itself is escaped by doubling inside a quoted field. A splitter that ignores quoting silently shifts every column after the first offending row, and because the row count stays the same the damage is easy to miss. This tool parses quoted fields properly and reports rows whose column count differs from the header, which is the signal that something went wrong.
Detecting the delimiter
Automatic detection counts candidate delimiters per line and picks the one whose count is both high and consistent across lines. Consistency matters more than frequency: prose contains many commas and few tabs, but the comma count varies wildly line to line while a genuine delimiter appears the same number of times in every row. Fixed width data has no delimiter at all and is detected by finding columns of the text where every row has a space.
Types tell you about the data
Inferring whether each column holds integers, decimals, dates, booleans or text takes one pass and answers the questions that matter before import: which columns are numeric, whether a column that should be numeric contains a stray text value, how many cells are empty, and how many distinct values a column holds. A column with two distinct values across ten thousand rows is a flag, and one where every value is distinct is probably a key.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How is the delimiter detected automatically?
By counting each candidate delimiter on every line and choosing the one whose count is both high and consistent. Consistency is the stronger signal, since prose contains many commas at varying counts while a real delimiter appears the same number of times in every row.
Are quoted fields handled?
Yes. A field wrapped in quotes may contain the delimiter, line breaks and doubled quote characters, which are unescaped to a single quote. Ignoring quoting is the most common cause of silently misaligned columns.
What does the column count mismatch warning mean?
That a row has more or fewer fields than the header. It usually indicates an unquoted delimiter inside a field, an unbalanced quote, or a genuinely ragged file. Such rows import as misaligned data rather than as errors, so they are worth fixing before import.
How is fixed width text handled?
By finding character positions where every line has a space, which marks the boundaries between columns. It works when the data is genuinely aligned and fails on files where a value fills its column entirely, leaving no space to detect.
What is the type inference for?
To tell you which columns are numeric, whether a numeric column contains a stray text value, how many cells are empty and how many distinct values each column holds. A column where every value is distinct is likely a key, and one with two distinct values across many rows is a flag.
Privacy & Security
Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
How to Use
Paste delimited text to split it into columns and convert between formats.
Disclaimer: This tool is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Results are for educational and utility purposes.
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