XML to CSV Converter

Flatten a repeating XML structure into a clean CSV table. The converter auto-detects the record element (the child name that repeats most under a shared parent), so a list of <book> or <order> elements becomes one row each. Columns are the union of every record's child elements, optionally including attributes. Fields containing commas, quotes, or newlines are quoted per RFC 4180 so the output opens cleanly in Excel, Google Sheets, or any CSV parser.

How to use the XML to CSV Converter

Paste your XML and the tool parses it with the browser's DOMParser. It then finds the record element — the element name that occurs most often as a direct child of a shared parent — and treats each occurrence as one CSV row. If the auto-detection picks the wrong element, type the correct tag name into the Record element field to override it.

Columns are built from the union of every record's child-element names, in first-seen order, so records with missing fields still line up; absent cells are left empty. Tick Include attributes as columns to add a column for each attribute found on the record elements (attribute columns are prefixed with @). Pick a delimiter — comma, semicolon, or tab — and toggle the header row off if your downstream consumer does not want one. Use Download .csv to save the result or Copy to grab it for a spreadsheet.

What is the XML to CSV Converter?

XML and CSV sit at opposite ends of the data-shape spectrum. XML is a tree: elements nest arbitrarily deep, can repeat, and carry both child elements and attributes. CSV is a flat grid of rows and columns with no nesting at all. Converting one to the other is therefore inherently lossy in one direction — you have to pick a single level of the tree to become your rows. That level is the repeating record element: in a document like <catalog><book>…</book><book>…</book></catalog>, the book elements are the records and everything inside each book becomes that row's cells.

Auto-detection works by counting, for every parent in the document, how many same-named children it has, and choosing the name with the highest repeat count. That heuristic handles the overwhelmingly common "list of things" XML you get from APIs, exports, and feeds, but ambiguous documents (deeply nested or with several competing lists) may need the manual override. Once records are chosen, columns are the union of all child-element local names so the grid is rectangular even when individual records omit fields. Attributes are a separate modeling decision: XML lets you put a value in either an element (<price>9.99</price>) or an attribute (<item price="9.99"/>), and only you know which matter, so attribute columns are opt-in and namespaced with @ to avoid colliding with element columns of the same name.

The output follows RFC 4180 quoting: any field that contains the delimiter, a double quote, or a line break is wrapped in double quotes, and embedded double quotes are escaped by doubling them (" becomes ""). This is what lets a free-text XML field with commas and newlines survive the trip into a spreadsheet without shifting columns. If you need the inverse direction or a nested representation instead of a flat table, see the XML to JSON converter.

Common use cases

  • Spreadsheet import — turn an XML data export into a CSV you can open directly in Excel or Google Sheets for filtering and pivot tables.
  • RSS / Atom feeds to a table — flatten <item> or <entry> elements into rows of title, link, and date for analysis.
  • Legacy API responses — convert SOAP or XML-RPC result lists into CSV for ad-hoc reporting without writing an XSLT.
  • Database / bulk-load prep — produce a clean delimited file from XML to feed LOAD DATA, COPY, or a spreadsheet-based import.
  • Catalog and inventory exports — flatten product or order XML into one row per SKU, including price and SKU attributes when needed.
  • Quick data inspection — eyeball a large XML file as a grid instead of scrolling through angle brackets.

Frequently asked questions

How does auto-detection choose the record element?
It scans every parent in the document and counts repeated same-named children, then picks the element name with the highest occurrence count under a single parent. That matches the "list of records" pattern most XML uses. If your document is ambiguous, type the tag name into the Record element field to override it.

What happens to nested elements inside a record?
Each record's direct child elements become columns. If a child itself contains sub-elements, the cell holds that child's combined text content. CSV is flat, so deep nesting is not preserved column-by-column — use the XML to JSON converter if you need the full tree.

Why are some fields wrapped in double quotes?
Per RFC 4180, any field containing the delimiter, a double quote, or a newline must be quoted, and embedded quotes are escaped by doubling them. This keeps commas and line breaks inside a value from being read as new columns or rows.

Can I include XML attributes in the output?
Yes. Tick "Include attributes as columns" and each attribute found on the record elements gets its own column, prefixed with @ to distinguish it from a child element of the same name.

Is my XML uploaded anywhere?
No. Parsing and conversion run entirely in your browser with DOMParser. Nothing is sent to a server, which makes this safe for proprietary or sensitive data.