CELLSMITH / CSV TOOLS
Open CSV File
Got a .csv file and nothing set up to open it? Choose the file and read it as a table in your browser.
Files are kept for up to 30 minutes after your last activity. Unsaved edits cannot be recovered after a server restart.
Every field is shown as the text stored in the file, so 001 stays 001. Opening never changes the file. Files up to 32 MiB work in the web version.
How it works
- Choose Open file above to open a table directly. Or drop a file to check it first, then choose Open in workbench to see the table. The web version reads UTF-8 CSV, TSV and TXT files up to 32 MiB; a larger file is declined before upload.
- Once opened, the file appears as a table. The file passport names the detected delimiter, encoding and line endings, and the status bar shows the row count. Scroll, or type a row number such as 5000 in the name box to jump to it.
- Close the tab when you are done: nothing was written. If you edit or repair and save, a file opened with the picker can be written back after you allow it; a file opened after dropping is saved as a download instead.
What stays exactly the same
Opening, scrolling and jumping do not rewrite the file, and fields are not converted: leading zeros stay, long numbers are not turned into scientific notation and text is not turned into dates. With no edits or repairs, Preserve output has the exact bytes you opened.
Your file is uploaded to the cellsmith.app server to be shown, held in memory and deleted after the retention period. A planned desktop app is meant to open files on your own computer; it is not released yet.
Limits
Files are uploaded to the cellsmith.app server and held in memory, not kept only in your browser. The web version accepts UTF-8 text files up to 32 MiB each. Files expire 30 minutes after the last activity; opening another file or restarting the server also clears the current document and unsaved work.
Questions about this tool
Which program opens a CSV file?
Any spreadsheet app (Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc) and any text editor can open one, because a CSV is plain text. If double-clicking does nothing, no app is set for .csv files. You can also open it here in your browser without installing anything.
Why does Excel drop the leading zeros when I open a CSV?
Excel treats a field that looks like a number as a number, so 00123 becomes 123 and long IDs turn into scientific notation. The zeros are still in the file. Here every field is shown as the text it contains.
Is my file uploaded?
In the web version, yes: the file is sent to the cellsmith.app server to build the table, kept in memory and deleted after the retention period. The planned desktop app is meant to work on files on your own computer; it is not released yet.
How big a CSV file can I open?
Up to 32 MiB per file. A larger file is declined before upload with a pointer to the desktop page. See the large-file page for how big files behave.
Will opening the file change it?
No. Opening, scrolling and jumping leave the file as it is. It only changes if you edit or repair it and then save. If you opened it with the file picker and allow writing, Save & verify writes back to that file; a file opened after dropping is saved as a download.