What a CSV file contains
CSV stores rows and fields as text separated by a delimiter. Comma is common, but semicolon, tab, and pipe are also used. Quoted fields can contain delimiters, escaped quotes, and line breaks, so splitting every line on commas is unreliable.
Open CSV as a bounded table
Choose a UTF-8 CSV file or paste its text, select Auto or the known delimiter, decide whether the first row contains headers, and choose View CSV. Compare total parsed dimensions with the separately bounded preview.
- Use an explicit delimiter when auto-detection reports ambiguity.
- Check header labels and irregular-row warnings.
- Scroll horizontally for wide tables.
Cells remain inert text
OpenFileTools renders cell strings through normal text nodes. HTML, SVG, scripts, and spreadsheet-formula-looking values are not interpreted or evaluated in the viewer.
Dialect and resource limits
The parser supports common RFC-style quoting but does not claim every application-specific CSV dialect. Input is capped at 16 MB, 50,000 rows, 500 columns, and 1,000,000 characters per cell; previews are further capped to prevent browser freezes.
Troubleshoot shifted columns or broken rows
If columns appear shifted, choose the actual delimiter and check for malformed unmatched quotes. Different row lengths are reported rather than silently discarded. A legacy non-UTF-8 file may need conversion in its originating application.
- A CSV extension does not guarantee valid CSV.
- Embedded line breaks must be inside quotes.
- Keep the original file while diagnosing malformed exports.