CSV Validator & Linter
Free CSV validator. Check CSV data against RFC 4180: ragged rows, unescaped and unterminated quotes, blank lines, mixed line endings, BOM and smart quotes, with per-line diagnostics, fix suggestions and delimiter detection.
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What is CSV Validator & Linter?
The CSV Validator & Linter checks pasted data against RFC 4180, the standard behind CSV quoting and record structure. It reports ragged rows, unescaped and unterminated quotes, garbage after closing quotes, blank lines, mixed line endings, UTF-8 BOM and spreadsheet smart quotes, each with the line number, surrounding context and a concrete fix suggestion, plus row, column and delimiter statistics.
Key Benefits
- Find the exact line that breaks an import before it breaks production
- Real RFC 4180 parsing, not a naive split on commas
- Fix suggestions written for humans, not parser jargon
- Delimiter auto-detection with manual override and mismatch flagging
- Runs offline, so private data never leaves the browser
Common Use Cases
- •Pre-flight checking an export before feeding it to a database or API
- •Debugging a CSV that one tool accepts and another rejects
- •Auditing hand-merged or hand-edited data files
- •Cleaning up spreadsheet exports with smart quotes and BOM
- •Teaching a team why their CSV loader complains
How to Validate a CSV File
- Paste the CSV data: Paste the raw CSV text, including the header row. Validation runs instantly and shows row, column and delimiter statistics.
- Confirm the delimiter: Leave the delimiter on auto-detect, or pick it manually if the data uses semicolons, tabs or pipes. A mismatch with the data is flagged.
- Work through the diagnostics: Each issue names its line, shows the surrounding text and suggests a concrete fix, from doubling quotes to deleting blank lines.
Key Features
- RFC 4180 parsing with proper quote and escape tracking
- Ragged-row detection against the header column count
- Unescaped, unterminated and trailing-garbage quote diagnostics
- Encoding hints: BOM, smart quotes and mixed line endings
- Auto-detect or manual delimiter with per-line fix suggestions