XML to CSV Converter
Convert XML files to CSV online for free. Flatten hierarchical markup with nested elements and attributes into clean tabular data that opens in Excel, Google Sheets, and any spreadsheet app. No software needed. Up to 100 MB.
Drop your XML file hereTap to choose your XML file
or
Max 100 MB
How to Convert XML to CSV
Upload
Drag and drop your XML file into the converter above, or click Choose XML File to browse your device.
Convert
Click Convert to CSV. Our server parses your XML structure, identifies repeating elements, and flattens them into tabular CSV rows and columns. Takes a few seconds.
Download
Click Download CSV to save the file. Open it in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet app — no registration, no email required.
Convert XML to CSV on Any Device
On Windows
Windows has no built-in XML-to-CSV converter. Microsoft Excel can import XML files, but it requires manual mapping and often struggles with deeply nested structures or namespaces. Our online converter handles any XML structure automatically and produces a clean CSV that opens instantly in Excel, LibreOffice Calc, or Google Sheets — no plugins or configuration needed.
On Mac
macOS does not include native XML-to-CSV conversion tools. While Numbers can open some simple XML files, it cannot handle complex hierarchies or attributes reliably. Our browser-based converter works directly in Safari, Chrome, or Firefox on any Mac — upload your XML, get a properly flattened CSV file in seconds, and open it in any spreadsheet application.
On Linux
Linux users can convert XML to CSV using command-line tools like xmlstarlet or custom Python scripts with lxml, but writing XPath queries and handling edge cases for every XML format is time-consuming. Our online converter automates the entire process — just upload your XML file in any browser (Firefox, Chrome, Chromium) and download a ready-to-use CSV.
On Mobile
XML files are nearly impossible to process on phones and tablets. Most mobile apps cannot parse XML into tabular data. Our converter works on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices — upload your XML from the browser, convert it to CSV, and download the result. You can then open the CSV directly in Google Sheets or any mobile spreadsheet app.
What is XML?
XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a text-based format for storing and transporting structured data using a hierarchy of nested elements and attributes. Developed by the W3C in 1998, XML is designed to be both human-readable and machine-readable, making it one of the most widely used formats for data exchange between systems, APIs, configuration files, and document storage.
An XML file organizes data in a tree structure: a root element contains child elements, which can contain their own children, attributes, and text content. This hierarchical approach allows XML to represent complex, deeply nested relationships — such as orders containing products, each with multiple variants and pricing tiers — that flat formats like CSV cannot natively express.
XML is the backbone of many enterprise systems: SOAP web services, RSS feeds, SVG graphics, Microsoft Office documents (DOCX, XLSX), Android layouts, and Maven build configurations all use XML as their underlying data format.
What is CSV?
CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is a plain-text file format that stores tabular data — rows and columns — using commas as delimiters between fields and line breaks between records. It is one of the oldest and most universal data exchange formats in computing, supported by virtually every spreadsheet application, database, programming language, and data analysis tool.
A CSV file contains no formatting, no nesting, and no data type information. Every value is stored as plain text in a flat, two-dimensional table. This simplicity is both its greatest strength and its main limitation: CSV files can be opened and processed anywhere, but they cannot represent hierarchical relationships or complex data structures without flattening them first.
CSV is the universal format for tabular data. Database exports, analytics reports, spreadsheet data, scientific datasets, and bulk imports/exports across virtually all software platforms use CSV because any tool can read it — Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, pandas, R, SQL databases, and more.
XML vs CSV: Quick Comparison
| Feature | XML | CSV |
|---|---|---|
| Data structure | Hierarchical (tree of nested elements) | Flat (rows and columns) |
| Hierarchy support | Unlimited nesting depth | No nesting (flat only) |
| Human readability | Readable but verbose | Simple and compact |
| File size | Larger (verbose tags and attributes) | Smaller (minimal delimiters) |
| Spreadsheet compatibility | Limited (requires import/transform) | Universal (opens directly in all) |
| Schema support | XSD, DTD, RelaxNG validation | No built-in schema |
| Attributes | Supported (key-value on elements) | Not applicable |
| Namespaces | Full namespace support | Not supported |
| Parsing complexity | Requires XML parser (DOM/SAX) | Trivial line-by-line parsing |
| Database import | Requires custom parsing scripts | Native LOAD/COPY support |
| Best for | APIs, configs, complex data structures | Tabular data, reports, database import |
Why Convert XML to CSV?
Open in any spreadsheet instantly
Spreadsheet applications like Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice Calc work best with flat tabular data. Converting XML to CSV lets you immediately open your data for filtering, sorting, pivot tables, and chart creation — tasks that are cumbersome or impossible with raw XML files. CSV opens natively in every spreadsheet app without import wizards or plugins.
Simplify database import
Most databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, SQL Server) support direct CSV import through built-in tools like LOAD DATA INFILE or COPY FROM. CSV is the fastest and simplest way to bulk-load data into a database table. Converting your XML data to CSV first eliminates the need for custom XML parsing scripts or XPath queries.
Smaller file size
XML's opening and closing tags, attributes, and whitespace add significant overhead. The same data stored as CSV is typically 2–5x smaller because CSV uses only commas and line breaks as delimiters. Smaller files transfer faster, load quicker, and are easier to email or share via cloud storage.
Easier to process in code
CSV files are trivial to parse in any programming language — Python, JavaScript, PHP, R, and even shell scripts can process CSV line by line with minimal code. XML requires a full parser (DOM or SAX), namespace handling, and XPath queries. For data pipelines and automation scripts, CSV is dramatically simpler to work with.
Frequently Asked Questions
<record>, <item>, <row>) and treats each one as a CSV row. Child elements and attributes within each repeating element become column values. Nested sub-elements are flattened using dot notation (e.g., "address.city") so the hierarchical relationships are preserved as descriptive column names in the flat CSV output.
<product id="123" category="electronics"> would produce columns named "id" and "category" with values "123" and "electronics". Attributes and child elements are both treated as data fields in the resulting CSV, so no data is lost.
<order><customer><address><city>London</city></address></customer></order> would produce a column named something like "customer.address.city" with the value "London". This preserves the data hierarchy in a flat format that spreadsheets can work with.