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TSV to JSON Converter

Convert TSV (tab-separated values) to JSON instantly in your browser. First row used as column headers. No data leaves your device.

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Tab-Separated Values (TSV) is a plain-text tabular data format where each row is a line of text and fields within a row are separated by tab characters (ASCII 0x09). The first row conventionally contains column headers. TSV is a close relative of CSV (Comma-Separated Values) but uses tab delimiters instead of commas, which avoids the quoting complexity that arises when data fields contain commas — addresses, names, and text with punctuation frequently contain commas but rarely contain tabs.

Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets both export TSV natively: in Excel, 'Save As > Text (Tab delimited) (.txt)'; in Google Sheets, 'File > Download > Tab-separated values (.tsv)'. Database query results in PostgreSQL (psql's \copy), MySQL (SELECT INTO OUTFILE), and SQLite (mode tabs) also export to TSV. This makes TSV the natural export format for structured data that needs to move into JSON-based systems.

This tool converts TSV to a JSON array of objects using the PapaParse library with the tab delimiter option. The first row is treated as headers — each subsequent row becomes a JSON object with keys from the header row. PapaParse handles edge cases including quoted fields, escaped characters, and multi-line values. The output is a formatted JSON array suitable for use as API mock data, configuration input, or import into a JavaScript application.

Common Use Cases

Converting Google Sheets exports to JSON for web apps

Web developers prototyping applications with real data from spreadsheets download Google Sheets data as TSV and convert it to JSON for use in JavaScript frontends, React state, or Node.js data files. JSON is the native format for JavaScript consumption; TSV is the easiest spreadsheet export. Converting TSV to JSON directly avoids manual reformatting and is faster than installing a server-side CSV parsing library for a one-time data import.

Importing database query results into JavaScript APIs

When PostgreSQL's psql or SQLite's command-line interface outputs query results in tab-separated format, converting to JSON enables the data to be consumed by REST APIs, GraphQL resolvers, or Node.js scripts. A developer debugging a data pipeline can export a query result as TSV, convert to JSON, and load it directly into a tool that expects JSON input — bypassing the need to set up a JSON export configuration in the database client.

Normalizing tabular data from analytics platforms

Analytics platforms (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude) export reports as TSV or CSV. When integrating analytics data into a custom dashboard, JSON is required for chart libraries like Chart.js, Recharts, or D3.js. Converting the platform's TSV export to a JSON array provides data in the structure that visualization libraries expect, with each row as an object whose keys match the analytics dimension and metric names.

How to Use

  1. Paste or type TSV data into the input panel (first row is treated as column headers).
  2. Each subsequent row becomes a JSON object with keys from the header row.
  3. The JSON array output appears instantly on the right.
  4. Click Copy Output to copy to clipboard, or Download to save as a .json file.
  5. Use the Example button to load sample TSV data.

TSV Format

Tab-Separated Values (TSV) is a plain-text table format exported by spreadsheet apps like Excel and Google Sheets:

Name	Age	City
Alice	30	London
Bob	25	Berlin

TSV vs CSV