Free Online Delimiter Converter - Split & Join Text Instantly

Delimiter.site is a free, browser-based delimiter converter that lets you split any column of text into a clean, delimited list in seconds. Paste your data, choose how to split it, choose how to join it, and press the convert button - no account needed, and your text is never stored or logged.

Why This Converter Runs in Your Browser

Most online converters upload your data, transform it on a server and send it back. This one does not. The conversion is JavaScript running on your own machine, so the data you paste never leaves your device — which matters when the column you are converting holds customer emails, order IDs or anything else you would rather not post to a stranger's server. Disconnect from the internet and it still works.

What Is a Delimiter Converter?

A delimiter converter takes a block of text where each item sits on its own line (or is separated by a known character) and reformats it so the items are joined by a different separator. The most common use case is turning a column copied from a spreadsheet into a comma-separated list you can drop straight into a SQL IN (…) clause, a Python list, or a CSV field.

Delimiters are everywhere in data work: commas in CSV files, tabs in TSV exports, semicolons in European locale CSVs, pipes in log files, and newlines in plain lists. Being able to switch between them quickly - without writing a script or opening Excel - saves real time every day.

The delimiters you will actually meet

• Comma — the C in CSV. Breaks the moment a value contains a comma of its own.
• Tab — what you get when you copy cells out of Excel or Google Sheets. Safer than commas.
• Semicolon — the default in European locales, where the comma is a decimal point.
• Pipe — common in log files and legacy feeds, because text rarely contains one.
• Newline — one item per line. Every other tool here expects this shape.

Once your data is one item per line you can sort it, strip duplicates, count the rows, then join it back into whatever format you need. The list clean-up guide covers the order to do that in.

How to Use the Delimiter Converter

Step 1 - Paste Your Data

Click the Paste button to pull text directly from your clipboard, or click Try sample to load a demo list of fruits. You can also type directly into the left panel. Each item should be on its own line for the default Newline split mode.

Step 2 - Choose Your Split Mode

Use the tab bar at the top to tell the converter how your input is currently delimited. Options include Newline, Comma, Semicolon, Tab, Space, Pipe, and Custom (enter any character or string).

Step 3 - Pick a Join Character

The dropdown in the center panel controls how the output items will be joined. Choose from comma, pipe, semicolon, tab, newline, space, or type any custom string. The output updates only when you press the green convert button, so you can tweak settings freely before committing.

Step 4 - Apply Options & Convert

Open the Options panel to trim whitespace, remove empty lines, deduplicate items, or sort the list A→Z or Z→A. You can also wrap each item in double quotes, single quotes, backticks, or parentheses using the Wrap selector. When everything looks right, press › to convert, then copy the result with one click.

Who Uses a Delimiter Converter

The job is always the same shape — change what sits between the values — but the reason differs a lot by role.

Developers

Building a WHERE id IN (…) filter from a list someone pasted into a ticket, turning a column into a JavaScript array literal, or flattening a config value onto one line. The SQL IN clause converter does the quoting in one pass.

Data analysts

Rescuing an export whose separator does not match the importer. Semicolon files from a European locale, tab-delimited clipboard data from a spreadsheet, pipe-delimited output from a legacy system. Convert, then count the rows to confirm nothing was lost.

SEO and marketing

Keyword lists move between tools in different shapes: one per line for a rank tracker, comma separated for an ad platform. Convert, then strip duplicates before uploading so you are not paying twice for the same term.

Sysadmins and DevOps

IP allowlists, hostnames and firewall rules move between a one-per-line file and a comma-separated config value constantly. The regex split mode handles output with inconsistent spacing that a fixed delimiter cannot.

Anyone cleaning a contact list

Email exports arrive one per line and mail clients want them comma separated, or the reverse. Split, deduplicate, rejoin.

Students and researchers

Pasting survey responses or reference lists between a document, a spreadsheet and a stats package, where each expects a different separator.

The Quoting Problem (RFC 4180)

This is the single most common reason a CSV file “loses” columns, and most converters ignore it. The CSV standard, RFC 4180, says a value containing the delimiter must be wrapped in double quotes — and a double quote inside that value must be doubled.

Named Conversions

Each of these has its own page with the tool pre-configured and the specific gotcha for that pair spelled out. Comma separated values and tab delimited text are the two most common starting points.

• CSV to TSV — when a value contains a comma and quoting is breaking your file.
• Tab delimited to comma — after copying cells out of Excel, which is Excel's answer to Text to Columns in reverse.
• Comma to pipe delimited — for legacy feeds and log formats.
• Excel column to comma list — the spreadsheet job, without a TEXTJOIN formula.
• List to a SQL IN clause — quoted and comma-joined, ready to paste.

See all 16 delimiter conversions.

Common Delimiter Conversions

Doing the Same Thing in Code

Converting once is faster here. Converting on a schedule belongs in a script, so here is the same operation in the five places people usually need it.

Python

text = "apple,banana,cherry"
items = [s.strip() for s in text.split(",") if s.strip()]
print("\n".join(items))          # one per line

# Quote-aware, per RFC 4180 — use the stdlib, not split()
import csv, io
rows = list(csv.reader(io.StringIO('"Chair, oak",12')))
# [['Chair, oak', '12']]

JavaScript

const items = "apple,banana,cherry"
  .split(",")
  .map(s => s.trim())
  .filter(Boolean);

const sqlIn = items.map(s => `'${s.replace(/'/g, "''")}'`).join(", ");
// 'apple', 'banana', 'cherry'

Bash

# comma-separated to one per line
tr ',' '\n' < input.csv

# column 2 of a tab-separated file
cut -f2 input.tsv

# one per line back to comma-separated
paste -sd',' input.txt

Excel and Google Sheets

=TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, A1:A20)     ' column to comma-separated
=TEXTSPLIT(A1, ",")               ' comma-separated to columns (365/Sheets)

In older Excel, splitting means Data → Text to Columns, which writes across columns rather than down rows. That difference catches people out: this converter produces rows, Text to Columns produces columns.

SQL

-- Postgres: expand a delimited string into rows
SELECT unnest(string_to_array('a,b,c', ',')) AS value;

-- MySQL 8: split with a recursive CTE, or just paste a ready-made IN list
SELECT * FROM orders WHERE id IN ('1001', '1002', '1003');

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I convert a column to a comma-separated list?

Paste the column into the left panel with Newline as the split mode, choose Comma as the join character, and press convert. The right panel shows the comma-separated list, ready to copy.

What exactly is a delimiter?

A delimiter is the character marking the boundary between values in text data: the comma in a CSV file, the tab in a TSV export, the pipe in a log line, or the line break in a plain list.

What is the difference between CSV and TSV?

CSV separates values with commas and TSV with tabs. TSV survives values that contain commas without any quoting, which is why spreadsheets put tabs on the clipboard when you copy cells.

Why did my CSV split into too many fields?

A value contained the delimiter. Under RFC 4180 such a value must be wrapped in double quotes, and a naive split ignores those quotes. Enable Respect quoted fields in the Options panel and the delimiter inside quotes is treated as data.

How do I escape a quote inside a quoted CSV value?

Double it. The value say "hi" is written as "say ""hi""" in a CSV file. With Respect quoted fields enabled, this converter turns the doubled pair back into a single literal quote.

Can I split with a regular expression?

Yes. Choose the regex split mode and enter a pattern, for example \s+ to split on any run of whitespace or [,;|] to split on a comma, semicolon or pipe at once.

Can I upload a file instead of pasting?

Yes. The Upload button accepts .txt, .csv, .tsv and .log files up to 5 MB. The file is read by your browser and never sent to a server.

How do I build a SQL IN clause?

Split on newline, join with a comma and set wrapping to single quotes. The SQL IN preset does all three in one click. Leave wrapping off for numeric columns, because quoting an integer can force a type cast and stop an index being used.

How do I stop a long IN clause being one huge line?

Set Line break every N items in the Options panel. Ten values per row keeps a two-thousand-value clause readable and produces a sensible diff in version control.

Does this tool upload my data?

No. The conversion is JavaScript running on your own machine. Disconnect from the internet after the page loads and it still works, which is a stronger guarantee than any deletion policy.

Is there a size limit?

No fixed limit. Because everything runs locally, the practical ceiling is your device's memory rather than a server quota. Lists of tens of thousands of lines are comfortable.

Can Excel do this without a tool?

Partly. TEXTJOIN joins a column with a delimiter and TEXTSPLIT reverses it in Microsoft 365, but both need a formula and a helper cell. Text to Columns writes across columns rather than down rows, which is a different result from what most people want.