About the JSON to TSV
Convert JSON to tab-separated values, which paste cleanly into spreadsheets and command-line tools. Nested objects are flattened into dot-notation columns.
Key features
- Tab-separated output that pastes straight into spreadsheets
- Nested objects flattened to dot-notation columns
- Tabs and line breaks inside values are replaced safely
- Header row built from all keys
- Works with arrays or single objects
- Download as .tsv
What is TSV?
TSV (tab-separated values) is a plain-text table format where each line is a row and each column is separated by a tab character. It's the format your clipboard uses when you copy cells from a spreadsheet, so TSV pastes into Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers with columns already split.
JSON to TSV example
[
{ "sku": "A1", "name": "Laptop", "specs": { "ram": "16GB" } },
{ "sku": "B7", "name": "Mouse", "specs": { "ram": null } }
]
sku name specs.ram
A1 Laptop 16GB
B7 Mouse
TSV vs. CSV
| TSV | CSV | |
|---|---|---|
| Separator | Tab | Comma (or ;) |
| Needs quoting | Rarely | Often |
| Paste into spreadsheets | ✅ Splits automatically | ⚠️ Usually ends up in one column |
| Command-line friendly | ✅ cut -f2 | ⚠️ Commas inside quotes complicate parsing |
| Locale issues | None | Comma vs. semicolon in Excel |
When to choose TSV
- Copy-paste workflows. Move API data into a sheet without importing a file.
- Shell scripting.
cut,awkandsortwork cleanly on tab-delimited data. - Data loading. BigQuery, PostgreSQL
COPYand many ETL tools accept TSV. - Text-heavy data. Product descriptions or addresses full of commas.
Tips
- Flattening rules are the same as in JSON to CSV:
parent.childcolumns and joined simple arrays. - To get a native spreadsheet file, use JSON to Excel.
- To extract specific columns from TSV later, use the Delimited Text Extractor.
How to use the JSON to TSV
- Paste your data into the input box, upload a file, or click Sample to try it out.
- Adjust the options above the editor if you need to (indentation, delimiter, and so on).
- The TSV appears instantly in the output panel. Any errors are shown with their line and column.
- Click Copy to copy the result, or Download to save it as a file.