How To
Apr 14, 2023

How to Convert a Large Spreadsheet to CSV

Love playing around with big data spreadsheets?

If you’re like me, you juggle between different spreadsheet file extensions like .xlsx or .json and have to convert them to CSVs frequently.    

Sure, you can use Microsoft Excel’s or Google Sheets’ “Save As” feature to convert spreadsheet files in different formats in the form of CSVs.

However, these platforms have a few limitations.

Let’s talk about the limitations of Microsoft Excel

  1. The maximum row and column limits are 1,048,576 and 16,384 respectively.
  2. Spreadsheets are limited by available system resources and memory. This means, if your Excel file is too large or if you have applied too many calculations, formatting, and graphics that can eat up your computer’s memory, then the chances of Excel crashing are high.

Click here to learn more about Microsoft Excel’s limitations.

Let’s talk about the limitations of Google Sheets

  1. Google Sheets can process spreadsheet files with not more than 10 million cells.
  2. The maximum column limit is 18,278.
  3. The upper limit for rows is 40,000.

Click here to dive deeper into the limitations of Google Sheets.

Microsoft Excel & Google Sheets CAN’T handle big data spreadsheets.

In a world where companies are generating terabytes of data, popular spreadsheet platforms like Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel can’t handle big data spreadsheet files.

So, if your spreadsheet files (no matter the format) are too large in size or exceed the row/column limit of these platforms, you’ll face a hard time converting them to CSVs. And the worst part is – if you play around with formats like JSON, you’ll not be able to open these files directly using Excel or Sheets. Instead, you’ll have to import your data – which is a complicated process in itself.

Gigasheet makes it easy to convert big data spreadsheets to CSVs

No matter what your spreadsheet file format, you can quickly load it to Gigasheet and export it in the form of CSVs. Never heard of Gigasheet? It's a free, online big data spreadsheet built exactly for this type of file conversion.

That means – whether you’re playing around with LOG, JSON, or PCAP, you can convert it to CSV in a few clicks.

For demonstration, I downloaded dummy spreadsheet files in different formats – which I’ll be converting into CSVs.

Following are a few extensions I’ll convert in this post:

  1. XLS
  2. LOG
  3. JSON
  4. PCAP

Let’s convert these extensions into CSV one by one.

Convert XLSX to CSV

Uploading .xlsx file to Gigasheet is a piece of cake. Just drag it to Gigasheet’s dashboard or upload your .xlsx file by clicking on “New – File Upload and dropping/browsing your .xlsx file.”

Once the file is uploaded and processed, load it inside Gigasheet. Here’s what your file will look like inside our platform:

Note: This also works for the legacy XLS Excel files!

Gigasheet supports XLSX and XLS spreadsheet files and can be used to convert XLSX to CSV

To convert your .xls file into .csv, click on “File -> Export.” Gigasheet’s export feature has been designed such that – no matter what your spreadsheet file format is – you’ll be able to download it as CSV.

Next, fill the “Name” and “Library Location” for the exported file. Once you do it, select “Begin Export.”

XLS to CSV

And you’re done. Your exported file can be downloaded from the library location you selected above. It’ll be available as .zip file – which, when extracted, will be available as CSV.

Convert LOG to CSV

Just drag your LOG file to Gigasheet’s dashboard or upload it by clicking on “New – File Upload and dropping/browsing your .log file.”

Once the file is uploaded and processed, load it inside Gigasheet.

LOG file inside Gigasheet which can be used to convert LOG to CSV

Now to convert your .log file into .csv, click on “File -> Export.” Fill in the “Name” and “Library Location” for the exported file. Once done, select “Begin Export.” \

LOG to CSV

After you do it, your exported file can be downloaded from the library location you selected above. It’ll be available as .zip file – which, when extracted, will be available as CSV.

Convert JSON to CSV

Just drag your JSON file to Gigasheet’s dashboard or upload it by clicking on “New – File Upload and dropping/browsing your .json file.”

Once the file is uploaded and processed, load it inside Gigasheet.

convert JSON to CSV using Gigasheet

Now to convert your .json file into .csv, click on “File -> Export.” Fill in the “Name” and “Library Location” for the exported file. Once done, select “Begin Export.”

JSON to CSV

After you do it, your exported file can be downloaded from the library location you selected above. It’ll be available as .zip file – which, when extracted, will be available as CSV.

Convert PCAP to CSV

Just drag your PCAP file to Gigasheet’s dashboard or upload it by clicking on “New – File Upload and dropping/browsing your .pcap file.”

Once the file is uploaded and processed, load it inside Gigasheet.

convert PCAP to CSV using Gigasheet

Now to convert your .pcap file into .csv, click on “File -> Export.” Fill in the “Name” and “Library Location” for the exported file. Once done, select “Begin Export.”

PCAP to CSV

After you do it, your exported file can be downloaded from the library location you selected above. It’ll be available as .zip file – which, when extracted, will be available as CSV.

Similarly, you can convert spreadsheet files in different extensions to CSV in no time.

However, it’s important to note that – when you do it, you’ll end up losing a few features like hyperlinks, conditional formatting, graphics, cell comments, objects, embedded charts, and more. So, converting your big data spreadsheet to CSV is only recommended if you only need to retain the basic data in the cells and don’t really care about the advanced features or formatting.

You can also tap into Gigasheet’s advanced features like filtering, grouping, validation, and so much more.

Gigasheet isn’t just a “Convert your spreadsheet files to CSV” platform. Instead, it’s a big data cloud spreadsheet with several advanced functionalities like filtering, grouping, validation, and so much more.

Looking to narrow down your data? Just apply a filter or two:

Apply filter to spreadsheet

Want to organize your data? Just group it by a column or multiple:

Organize your spreadsheet data

Similarly, you can use several other features like Cross File VLOOKUP, Pivot Mode, Enrichments, Calculations, and so much more.

Gigasheet supports even the largest datasets – up to one billion rows in a single spreadsheet. Want to try it out for yourself?

Click here to sign up.

The ease of a spreadsheet with the power of a data warehouse.

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