CSV to XML Converter Free
Convert CSV rows to well-formed XML records. Each row becomes an XML element, with column headers as child tags or attributes. Custom root tag, row tag, attribute mode, CDATA wrapping, and pretty printing. Runs entirely in your browser.
CSV Input
XML Output
Pro — namespace support, XSD schema generation, batch convert, API access
API access · Priority queue · Team workspace
How It Works
Paste Your CSV
Paste CSV text with a header row. Click Sample CSV to load a product catalog with name, category, price, stock, and active columns. The first row becomes XML element or attribute names, and each subsequent row becomes one XML record. The delimiter is auto-detected from the first line, or you can pick it manually from the dropdown.
Configure Tags & Style
Set the root element name that wraps all records (default: records) and the row element name for each data row (default: record). Choose between child element mode (each column becomes a child tag) or attribute mode (columns become XML attributes on the row element). Enable CDATA wrapping for values that may contain XML-reserved characters.
Copy or Download XML
Click Convert to produce well-formed, indented XML. Copy to clipboard or download as a .xml file. The output includes an XML declaration with UTF-8 encoding and is validated to produce legal element names — invalid characters in CSV header names are replaced with underscores to ensure the XML is parseable by any compliant XML parser without modification.
CSV to XML Features
Well-formed XML output with custom tags and flexible structure options
Custom Element Names
Set any valid XML element name for the root wrapper and each row element. This lets you produce XML that matches the schema expected by your target system — for example, <employees> wrapping <employee> records, or <catalog> wrapping <product> records. CSV header values that are not valid XML names are sanitized automatically.
Element vs Attribute Mode
In element mode (default), each column value becomes a child element: <name>Alice</name>. In attribute mode, values become XML attributes: <record name="Alice" age="30">. Attribute mode produces more compact output; element mode is better for values that may be long, contain special characters, or need CDATA sections.
CDATA Wrapping
CDATA sections wrap text content that may contain XML-reserved characters like <, >, and & — preventing the need for entity escaping. When enabled, all values are wrapped in <![CDATA[...]]>. Useful when converting CSV containing HTML content, mathematical expressions, code snippets, or any text that might contain XML metacharacters.
Auto-Detect Delimiter
The auto-detect option counts occurrences of comma, semicolon, tab, and pipe in the first line and picks the most frequent as the delimiter. This correctly handles comma-separated files from English Excel, semicolon-separated files from European Excel, tab-separated database exports, and pipe-separated legacy system files without any manual configuration step.
Well-Formed Output
Output always begins with an XML declaration (<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>), has a single root element, and correctly escapes or wraps all special characters. Column headers that contain spaces or start with numbers are sanitized to valid XML names. The result is parseable by any standards-compliant XML parser including libxml2, Xerces, and browser DOMParser.
100% Private
All conversion runs in your browser. Your CSV data never leaves your device. No server receives, processes, or stores your data. This makes the tool safe for converting CSV exports from databases, CRMs, ERP systems, and other business applications that contain personally identifiable information, financial records, or proprietary business data that must remain confidential.
Free vs Pro
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| CSV input size | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Custom root & row tags | ||
| XML namespace support | — | |
| XSD schema generation | — | |
| Batch file convert | — | |
| REST API access | — |
Frequently Asked Questions
The output has a root element (default: <records>) that contains one child element per CSV data row (default: <record>). Each row element contains one child element per column (in element mode) or attributes (in attribute mode). The CSV header row values become the element or attribute names. The output begins with an XML declaration specifying UTF-8 encoding.
XML element and attribute names must start with a letter or underscore and may only contain letters, digits, hyphens, underscores, and periods. The converter sanitizes invalid names automatically — spaces are replaced with underscores, leading digits get an underscore prefix (e.g., 1st_name becomes _1st_name), and other invalid characters are removed. The sanitized name is used in the output so the XML remains parseable.
Use element mode (default) when field values may be long or contain special characters, when the target system expects child elements, or when you want to use CDATA sections. Use attribute mode when values are short identifiers or codes, when the XML schema requires attributes, or when you need compact output. Note that XML attributes cannot contain angle brackets, so attribute mode automatically HTML-encodes values containing < or &.
A CDATA section (<![CDATA[...]]>) tells the XML parser to treat the content as raw character data, not as XML markup. This prevents special characters like <, >, and & from being interpreted as XML. Enable CDATA when your CSV contains HTML content, script code, mathematical formulas, or any field values that might contain XML metacharacters that would otherwise break the XML structure.
The output is well-formed XML but not validated against any XSD or DTD schema — it has no schema declaration. To validate it against an XSD, you would need to write a schema file that matches the root element name, row element name, and field names you configured, then use an XML validator tool. Pro users can export an auto-generated XSD schema that matches the structure of the converted CSV.
No — all conversion runs in JavaScript in your browser. Your CSV is parsed locally and the XML is built as a string in memory, then displayed in the output field and optionally downloaded. No data is transmitted to any server. The tool is safe for CSV files containing sensitive business data, personal information, financial records, and any data that cannot be shared with third-party services.