Table to Text

Flatten structured tables back into plain text with customizable separators

Paste Table Data (from Excel/HTML)

Text Output

Flatten spreadsheet rows into readable text

When you copy cells from a spreadsheet or a web table and paste them into a chat window, an email or a plain-text document, the columns are separated by invisible tab characters. The result often collapses into an unreadable smear or a layout that changes from app to app. This tool makes the column breaks visible by replacing each tab with a pipe separator.

How to use it

Select and copy rows from Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice or an HTML table.
Paste them into the Paste Table Data (from Excel/HTML) box.
Click Flatten to Text.
Look at the Text Output panel, then press Copy Result.

If you change the input afterwards, the output panel hides again so a stale result cannot be copied by accident.

What the conversion does

The tool trims blank space from the ends of the whole pasted block and then replaces every tab character with a space, a vertical bar and another space. Rows stay on their own lines. So a row that was Name, Age, City in three cells becomes Name | Age | City. That format is easy to read in monospaced text, forum posts, tickets and commit messages, and it is close to how simple Markdown tables separate their columns.

When it is useful

Sharing a small data extract in a support ticket or chat where real tables are not available.
Putting a price list or schedule into a plain-text email.
Documenting query results in a README or wiki page.
Making pasted table data searchable and diffable in a text editor.

Limits worth knowing

The separator is fixed. Despite the page description, there is no field to choose another one, so if you want commas or semicolons you will need to replace the pipes afterwards.
Only tab characters are converted. Text that already uses commas or semicolons between values is returned unchanged.
Columns are not padded to equal widths, so the pipes will not line up vertically when cells differ in length.
No header underline row is added, so the result is not a full Markdown table.
Tabs inside a cell, which are rare, are treated as column breaks too.
Merged cells and formatting do not carry over; what you see is the pasted text only.

The conversion runs in the page with JavaScript and only touches whitespace, so cell contents are not altered.

Related Tools

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Frequently Asked Questions

What separator does the output use?

Each tab character in the pasted data is replaced with a space, a vertical bar and a space. There is no option to change it, so you would need to find and replace the pipes if you want another character.

Why is my result unchanged?

The tool only replaces tab characters. If your data is separated by commas, semicolons or spaces, there is nothing to convert. Copying cells directly from a spreadsheet or table usually gives tab-separated text.

Will the columns line up neatly?

No. The tool does not add padding, so pipes appear right after each cell's own text. In a monospaced font the columns may drift when cell lengths differ. It is meant for readability, not fixed-width alignment.

Does it create a Markdown table?

Not fully. You get pipe-separated rows, but no header separator line and no leading or trailing pipes. You can add those by hand if you need strict Markdown table syntax.

Can I upload an Excel file?

No. The tool accepts pasted text only and cannot open workbook files. Open the spreadsheet yourself, select the cells you want, copy them, and paste them into the input box before clicking Flatten to Text.