| name | xlsx-to-csv |
| description | Convert XLSX spreadsheets (single or multi-sheet) to CSV files you can read and grep. Use whenever you need to process an .xlsx report from Xero, Cryptio, bank exports, or any tool that delivers spreadsheet output. |
XLSX to CSV
When to use
Any time you need to read or grep the contents of an .xlsx file in
text form. The Read tool cannot render .xlsx directly; convert to
CSV first.
Single-sheet XLSX
LibreOffice headless conversion works:
libreoffice --headless --convert-to csv --outdir /path/to/outdir /path/to/input.xlsx
Output: outdir/input.csv (the active sheet only).
Multi-sheet XLSX
LibreOffice's --convert-to csv only emits the active sheet, so
hidden sheets get dropped silently. For multi-sheet files use
xlsx2csv via uvx (no permanent install needed):
uvx --from xlsx2csv xlsx2csv -a /path/to/input.xlsx /path/to/outdir/
Output: one CSV per sheet, named after the sheet (with spaces preserved).
If you don't know whether a file is multi-sheet, default to xlsx2csv
— it handles single-sheet files fine too.
Files served with the wrong extension
Some tools deliver XLSX content with a .zip extension (e.g. Cryptio's
Trial Balance download). Inspect with unzip -l file.zip — if you see
xl/workbook.xml or [Content_Types].xml, it's an XLSX. Rename to
.xlsx and convert as normal.
Pitfalls
- LibreOffice silently emits the active sheet only — running it on a
multi-sheet file looks successful but discards hidden sheets. Always
check sheet count via
unzip -l file.xlsx | grep worksheets/sheet.
xlsx2csv requires an output directory for -a; it will not write
to stdout when emitting multiple sheets.- Empty rows in the source are emitted as commas-only lines; filter
with
grep -v '^,*$' if they're noisy.
