Use This App Instead of Excel to Edit CSV Files Directly
CSV, or comma separated values, are files used for a variety of tasks, from managing large data sets to exporting data to move it between web services.
You might think that CSV files are just spreadsheets similar to Excel files, but it’s much more interesting: open any CSV file in a text document and you’ll learn that the “comma-separated” words are literal. These files are really just text documents: each line break is a row in the table, and the columns are the items in each row, separated by commas.
There’s nothing stopping you from editing the values directly in your text editor of choice, but it will be extremely annoying. And while you can import CSV files into Excel and work with them there, it can be confusing—you need to keep track of which Excel functions work in CSV files and which don’t. That’s why if you have to work with a CSV file, it’s better to have a dedicated tool.
The best tool for editing CSV files.
ModernCSV , an independent application for Linux, Mac and Windows computers, is the best tool I’ve ever found for this purpose. If you work with CSV files frequently or just need to edit them quickly, it’s worth a try.
This app is designed specifically for CSV files and makes working with them easy. For example: You can double-click a column number to change the order of all the items in the list based on that row. To test this, I downloaded a CSV file breaking down all US counties by population. The source file was organized by population; By double-clicking the state ID column, I could quickly sort the data by state. Once saved, the CSV itself was modified.
This is just one example. It also offers a full set of search and replace features, which is ideal for cleaning up damaged files. It supports filtering and allows you to edit multiple cells at once: just select all the cells you want to edit and start typing, this will affect everything selected.
There’s even a command bar that can be accessed using the CLTR/CMD-L keyboard shortcut. This allows you to quickly use any command the application offers without having to learn a special keyboard shortcut – just type what you want to do and press Enter.
The app also offers support for quick pivot tables, which helps provide deeper insights into your data. Case in point: I was able to use my information on US counties to extrapolate the populations of US states.
There are other features worth exploring, but I recommend you check out the documentation if you want to learn more – there’s a lot out there.
Free or paid versions
ModernCSV offers a free version that includes many of the best features described above. There are two paid versions: Premium Personal for $39 (which adds features like filtering and date conversion) and Premium Business for $59, which offers pivot tables and other advanced reporting features.
I think the free version is worth having on hand for anyone who even occasionally needs to edit CSV files, and the paid versions are great if you’re a power user.