Hands on a laptop exporting comma separated data files

Retail analyst checking a long product export on a monitor

XLS to CSV with semicolons for European locales

Upload the .xls file, keep the delimiter set to semicolon, choose the sheet and encoding, then convert. Values that contain commas, such as 12,50, stay in one field instead of splitting.

XLS Encrypted, deleted after conversion

XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLSB, ODS, CSV, TSV, Numbers, JSON, XML

Google Sheets share link

Convert to

Encrypted, auto-deleted

Demo converts up to 100 rows, once.

Sheet

Delimiter

Encoding

JSON shape

Minify JSON

SQL dialect

Table name

Wrap in a transaction

Dates

Row element

Orientation

Workbook password (if protected)

Trim spaces in every cell Remove duplicate rows Drop empty columns Stack all sheets into one table

In Germany, France, Poland, Italy and much of Europe the comma is the decimal separator, so Excel there uses the semicolon to separate fields. A comma separated file opened on such a machine lands in one column, and a semicolon file opened in the United States does the same. Accounting software, payroll tools and bank imports in these countries usually insist on semicolons.

This page has the semicolon delimiter set from the start for legacy XLS workbooks. If you need the general comma version, use XLS to CSV, and for text with accents that must survive the trip, combine it with the encoding advice on XLSX to CSV UTF-8.

How to convert XLS to CSV with Semicolons in three steps

1Upload the .xls workbook.
2Keep the semicolon delimiter and choose the sheet, encoding and date format.
3Convert and download the semicolon separated CSV.

Decimal commas, list separators and why the delimiter matters

Excel does not pick the CSV delimiter on its own. It reads the list separator from the regional settings of Windows, which is a comma in the United States and a semicolon wherever the decimal mark is a comma. That is why the same file looks fine for one colleague and collapses into column A for another. Choosing the delimiter that matches the receiving system removes the guesswork.

Decimal commas are the second reason to prefer semicolons. A price written as 1.249,90 in a comma separated file has to be wrapped in quotes, and many simple importers do not handle quotes well. With semicolons the value needs no quoting at all. Keep in mind that the number is written as it is displayed in the workbook, so a target system that wants a dot as decimal separator is better served by XLS to JSON, which writes numbers as numbers.

Dates are the third trap. A day like 03.04.2026 is the third of April in Europe and March fourth in the United States. Set the date format to EU when the file stays in Europe, or to ISO when it goes to a database, so nobody has to guess. For modern workbooks there is the same delimiter choice on XLSX to CSV.

Options for XLS to CSV with Semicolons

Semicolon delimiter: Fields are separated by semicolons, which is what Excel expects in most European regional settings.
Encoding: UTF-8, UTF-8 with BOM for Excel, or Windows-1252 for older local software.
Date format: Write dates as EU day.month.year, US month/day/year or ISO year-month-day.
Sheet picker: Export the first sheet or every sheet as a separate semicolon CSV in one ZIP.

Run it automatically

European bank and ERP exports often arrive as XLS every day. A pipeline on the Business plan can pick each file up from email, S3, Google Drive or Dropbox and write the semicolon CSV with the same encoding and date format every time. Set it up under spreadsheet automation or call the API with delimiter set to semicolon.

XLS to CSV with Semicolons questions

How do I convert XLS to a CSV separated by semicolons?

Upload the XLS file on this page, where the semicolon delimiter is already selected, choose the sheet and download the CSV.

Why does my CSV open in a single column in Excel?

The delimiter in the file does not match the list separator of your regional settings. European Excel expects semicolons, US Excel expects commas.

What happens to decimal commas in the CSV?

They stay as written. With semicolons as the field separator, values like 12,50 do not need quotes and are not split into two columns.

Can I write dates in day.month.year format?

Yes. Choose the EU date format, or ISO if the file is going into a database.

Is there a trial for semicolon CSV export?

There is a one-time demo of up to 100 rows, once per account and IP. Full files require a plan, from 24 USD per month billed yearly.

Related converters

XLS to CSV XLSX to CSV XLSX to CSV UTF-8 XLS to TSV CSV to XLS

Convert full files and batches

Pro starts at $24 per month billed yearly. Cancel any time.

See plans