CSV Edit

Edit delimited text like a table—without turning it into a spreadsheet file.

CSV Edit opens .csv, .tsv, .tab, and .psv files in a fast, compact grid that feels native to Visual Studio Code. The source stays plain text, so Save, Auto Save, Git diffs, and VS Code undo history keep working as expected. Parsing, editing, search, and data tools all run locally on your machine.

Why CSV Edit

• Stay in VS Code — inspect and edit delimited files without switching apps
• Keep clean diffs — the document remains ordinary delimited text
• Work locally — file contents, searches, and transformations are not uploaded
• Handle real data — quoted fields, multiline values, BOM, and line endings are preserved
• Move quickly — keyboard editing, rectangular selection, filters, and bulk tools are built in

Designed for CSV work

The interface follows VS Code rather than imitating a spreadsheet application. Common CSV actions stay in one 32-pixel command bar, complete cell values can be edited in a compact value bar, and less frequent commands live in an overflow menu. Dense rows and restrained borders keep the available space focused on data.

• Open CSV, TSV, TAB, and PSV files directly in a grid
• Edit cells, rectangular ranges, rows, and columns with mouse or keyboard, including direct typing with an input method (IME) such as Japanese
• See Sum, Average, and Count for numeric selections in the status bar
• Jump to any row by typing its number (or row,column) in the address box
• Right-click for cut, copy, paste, clear, sort, and row/column commands that apply to every selected row or column
• Copy and paste tabular data using the familiar TSV clipboard format (copy preserves embedded tabs, newlines, quotes, empty cells, and trailing spaces; Select All copies every row, including ones not yet loaded, and skips rows hidden by the quick filter)
• Insert, delete, resize, and reorder rows and columns
• Sort, filter, find, and replace values; the filter, find, and open panels stay put while you edit
• Trim whitespace, change case, fill blanks, and remove empty or duplicate rows for the whole table or only the selected columns — the header row is never changed
• Preview bulk transformations (with before → after samples) before applying one undoable change
• Detect uneven rows, empty headers, and duplicate headers, then click an issue to jump to the cell
• Turn the header row and row numbers on or off, and change the delimiter, from the … menu or by clicking the delimiter in the status bar
• English and Japanese interface, following the VS Code display language
• Preserve delimiters, quoted fields, multiline values, BOM, and line endings
• Load large documents in chunks and avoid repeated whole-grid DOM scans

Grid and text views

Choose Open as text from the … menu, use the editor-title action, or run CSV Edit: Toggle Grid/Text View. CSV Edit remembers the last view globally and uses it for the next supported file.

Use CSV Edit: Set Theme to choose Auto, Light, or Dark. Auto follows the active VS Code theme, and CSV Edit uses VS Code workbench colors throughout.

Keyboard workflow

Commands

• CSV: Toggle First Row as Header
• CSV: Toggle Serial Index Column
• CSV: Change CSV Separator
• CSV Edit: Open as Grid
• CSV Edit: Open as Text
• CSV Edit: Toggle Grid/Text View
• CSV Edit: Set Theme
• CSV Edit: Find
• CSV Edit: Replace
• CSV Edit: Toggle Filters
• CSV Edit: Open Data Tools
• CSV Edit: Validate Data

Privacy and file handling

CSV Edit does not upload document contents, usage data, or diagnostics. Parsing, editing, filtering, transformation, and validation run locally inside VS Code. Display state such as scroll position, column widths, filters, and theme choice is stored in VS Code state rather than written into the CSV file.

Read PRIVACY.md for the complete policy. When reporting a problem, follow SUPPORT.md and remove confidential values from sample files.

Independent rewrite and origin

This repository is an official GitHub fork of jonaraphael/csv, retained so the project origin and MIT attribution remain visible. CSV Edit is a complete product and codebase rewrite: its implementation, architecture, interface copy, documentation, icon, screenshots, and Marketplace presentation were created for CSV Edit. Upstream README prose and Marketplace artwork are not reused.

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.130 or newer
• Windows, macOS, or Linux

Build and verify

npm ci
npm run verify
npm run package

npm run package produces an installable .vsix file.

To try the grid in a browser without launching VS Code, run npm run harness -- path/to/file.csv and open http://localhost:5317/. The harness runs the real extension code against a mocked VS Code API inside the same sandbox VS Code uses. npm run test:e2e drives it with headless Chrome or Edge (real keyboard, mouse, and IME input).

Support development

If CSV Edit is useful to you, you can support continued development. Sponsorship helps fund maintenance, accessibility, performance work, and new releases.

License

CSV Edit is distributed under the MIT License. The required original-project copyright and derivation record are preserved in LICENSE and NOTICE.