--- sidebar_position: 5 title: CSV and Text --- CSV is a common format for data interchange. Spreadsheet applications such as Excel also support other delimiter-separated formats including "Text" (using a tab character as the field separator). The general write functions (`XLSX.write` and `XLSX.writeFile`) support `csv` and `txt` (for CSV and tab-separated values respectively), but the specific utility functions generate raw JS strings for further processing. ## Live Demo After choosing a file, the demo will print the data from each worksheet: ```jsx live function SheetJSPreCSView() { const [__html, setHTML] = React.useState("Select a file"); const process = (ab) => { const wb = XLSX.read(ab); var res = ""; wb.SheetNames.forEach((n, idx) => { const ws = wb.Sheets[n]; res += `Sheet #${idx+1} (${n})\n`; res += XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws) + "\n\n"; }); setHTML(res); }; React.useEffect(() => { (async() => { const url = "https://sheetjs.com/pres.numbers"; process(await (await fetch(url)).arrayBuffer()); })(); }, []); return ( <> { process(await e.target.files[0].arrayBuffer()); }}/>
   );
}
```

## Delimiter-Separated Output

**Export worksheet data in CSV, TSV, or other delimiter-separated format**

```js
var csv = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws, opts);
```

As an alternative to the `writeFile` CSV type, `XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv` also
produces CSV output.  The function takes an options argument:

| Option Name  |  Default | Description                                        |
| :----------- | :------: | :------------------------------------------------- |
|`FS`          |  `","`   | "Field Separator"  delimiter between fields        |
|`RS`          |  `"\n"`  | "Record Separator" delimiter between rows          |
|`dateNF`      |  FMT 14  | Use specified date format in string output         |
|`strip`       |  false   | Remove trailing field separators in each record ** |
|`blankrows`   |  true    | Include blank lines in the CSV output              |
|`skipHidden`  |  false   | Skips hidden rows/columns in the CSV output        |
|`forceQuotes` |  false   | Force quotes around fields                         |

- `strip` will remove trailing commas from each line under default `FS/RS`
- `blankrows` must be set to `false` to skip blank lines.
- Fields containing the record or field separator will automatically be wrapped
  in double quotes; `forceQuotes` forces all cells to be wrapped in quotes.


The following example shows `FS` and `RS` options:

```jsx live
function SheetJSCSVTest() {
  var ws = XLSX.utils.aoa_to_sheet([
    ["S", "h", "e", "e", "t", "J", "S"],
    [  1,   2,    ,    ,   5,   6,   7],
    [  2,   3,    ,    ,   6,   7,   8],
    [  3,   4,    ,    ,   7,   8,   9],
    [  4,   5,   6,   7,   8,   9,   0]
  ]);
  return ( 
    Worksheet (as HTML)
    
XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws)
{XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws)}

XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws, {'{'} FS: "\t" {'}'})
{XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws, { FS: "\t" })}

XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws, {'{'} FS: ":", RS: "|" {'}'})
{XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws, { FS: ":", RS: "|" })}
); } ``` ### CSV Output **Export worksheet data in "Comma-Separated Values" (CSV)** ```js var csv = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_csv(ws, opts); ``` `sheet_to_csv` uses the comma character as the field separator by default. This utility function mirrors the `csv` book type in `XLSX.write` or `XLSX.writeFile`. `sheet_to_csv` always returns a JS string and always omits byte-order marks. ### UTF-16 Text Output **Export worksheet data in "UTF-16 Text" or Tab-Separated Values (TSV)** ```js var txt = XLSX.utils.sheet_to_txt(ws, opts); ``` `sheet_to_txt` uses the tab character as the field separator. This utility function matches the `txt` book type in `XLSX.write` or `XLSX.writeFile`. If encoding support is available, the output will be encoded in `CP1200` and the UTF-16 BOM will be added. If encoding support is not available, the output will be encoded as a standard `string`. `XLSX.utils.sheet_to_txt` takes the same arguments as `sheet_to_csv`.