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CSV To ASCII Table

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{{ workbook ? 'Online Table Editor' : 'Input Data' }}
Change File Enter Data
Row Col Row Col
Transpose Clear Delete Empty Deduplicate
ABC abc Abc
Replace
First Row as Header
{{ displayRows.length }} rows x {{ displayHeaders.length }} columns{{ firstRowAsHeader ? ' (1 header)' : '' }} {{ selectedRows.length > 0 ? selectedRows.length + ' selected' : '' }}
Output Data
{{ copied ? 'Copied!' : 'Copy to Clipboard' }} Download File
Properties
Convert CSV to ASCII online — paste, edit, and download ASCII.
Border Style:
Row Separators:
Show separator lines between rows
Comment Wrapper:
Text Alignment:
Left Center Right
Convert Restart
Insert Row Below
Insert Row Above
Insert Column Right
Insert Column Left
Delete Row {{ contextMenu.row + 1 }}
Delete Column {{ contextMenu.col + 1 }}
Clear Cell
Clear Row
Case sensitive Use regex Cancel Replace All

What Is an ASCII Table?

An ASCII table is a text-based representation of tabular data using characters from the ASCII character set — pipes (|), dashes (-), plus signs (+), and similar symbols — to draw borders and dividers. ASCII tables render correctly in any plain-text environment: terminals, source code comments, README files, emails, and documentation.

Example (MySQL style):

+--------+-----+--------+

| Name   | Age | City   |

+--------+-----+--------+

| Alice  |  30 | Berlin |

| Bob    |  25 | Tokyo  |

+--------+-----+--------+

What Is a CSV to ASCII Table Converter?

A CSV to ASCII converter transforms comma-separated or tab-separated data into formatted plain-text tables. Instead of manually aligning columns and drawing borders, you paste your data and select a visual style.

This is useful when you need to:

  • Embed tables in source code comments (Python, SQL, Java, C#, etc.)

  • Add formatted data to terminal output or CLI applications

  • Include tables in plain-text emails

  • Write reStructuredText documentation

  • Generate text-based diagrams for README files

Border Styles

The converter offers 10 border styles across three categories.

ASCII Styles

These use only standard ASCII characters (7-bit), making them safe for any terminal or text file.

StyleCharacters UsedBest For
MySQL+, -, |Database documentation, technical docs
Separated|, -Lightweight tables with visible columns
Horizontal-, |Minimal horizontal-line tables
Compact| onlySpace-constrained output
Dots.Retro/monospace aesthetics
Rounded/, Styled borders with rounded corners

Unicode Styles

These use Unicode box-drawing characters for cleaner visual output. Best for modern terminals, markdown renderers, and documents that support Unicode.

StyleCharacters UsedBest For
Unicode┌, ─, │, ┐, etc.Clean modern tables
Unicode (single line)┌, ─, │Thin-line variant

reStructuredText Styles

Native table formats for reStructuredText (RST) documentation, used by Sphinx, Python docs, and many open-source projects.

StyleFormatBest For
GridFull grid with + intersectionsComplex RST tables
Simple= underlinesSimple RST tables

Comment Wrappers

The comment wrapper prefixes each line of the output table with a language-specific comment character. This lets you paste the table directly into source code as a comment.

Supported Languages

LanguageComment PrefixExample
C++ / C# / Java / JavaScript// // +------+---+
Python / R / Ruby# # +------+---+
SQL / Lua-- -- +------+---+
MATLAB% % +------+---+
Docblock* * +------+---+
VBA' ' +------+---+
BASICREM REM +------+---+
Fortran 90! ! +------+---+

Block Comment Styles

StyleWrappingExample
CSS / JS block/* ... */Wraps entire table in block comment
HTML / XML<!-- ... -->Wraps entire table in HTML comment
Code block``` ... ```Wraps entire table in markdown code fence

Other Properties

Row Separators

Toggle Row Separators to insert horizontal separator lines between every data row (not just between header and body). This improves readability for wide tables.

Text Alignment

Set column alignment to Left, Center, or Right. All columns in the table use the same alignment. Center alignment pads content equally on both sides; right alignment left-pads values, useful for numeric data.

Full Table Editor

After uploading your CSV or TSV file, the built-in editor lets you:

  • Add, delete, and reorder rows and columns

  • Transpose rows to columns

  • Remove empty rows and duplicate rows

  • Apply case transformations (UPPERCASE, lowercase, Capitalize)

  • Find and replace values (with regex support)

Privacy

All processing happens in your browser. Your CSV data is never uploaded to any server.

How to Use the CSV to ASCII Converter

1. Load Your Data

Drag and drop a .csv or .tsv file onto the upload area, or click to browse. Alternatively, click Enter Data to type values directly into the table editor.

2. Edit (Optional)

Use the toolbar to modify your data. Insert or remove rows and columns, transpose the table, deduplicate rows, or apply bulk case changes.

3. Choose a Border Style

In the Properties panel, select a border style from the dropdown. Options range from ASCII MySQL-style to Unicode box-drawing to reStructuredText grid tables.

4. Configure Options

  • Row Separators — toggle on to add lines between each row

  • Comment Wrapper — select a language to prefix each output line with the appropriate comment character

  • Text Alignment — choose Left, Center, or Right

5. Convert

Click Convert. The formatted ASCII table appears in the Output Data panel.

6. Copy or Download

Click Copy to Clipboard to paste the result into your code or documentation, or use Download File to save it.

Use Cases

  1. Source code documentation — Embed data tables as comments in Python, SQL, Java, C#, or MATLAB files

  2. Terminal/CLI output — Format tabular data for console applications

  3. Plain-text emails — Include tables in emails without HTML formatting

  4. reStructuredText docs — Generate RST tables for Sphinx-based documentation

  5. README files — Add ASCII tables to project READMEs that render in any viewer

  6. Database reference — Document table schemas in MySQL-style formatting

  7. Pull request descriptions — Paste formatted comparison tables into PR comments

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