HTML Table to CSV: Complete Guide to Converting Web Tables

📅 January 2026 ⏱️ 6 min read

🚀 Fast Answer: How to convert HTML Table to CSV?

The fastest way is to use a browser extension because it handles the conversion locally without uploading data.

  1. Install Table to Excel.
  2. Hover over any table.
  3. Click "CSV" to download.

Why CSV Format?

CSV (Comma-Separated Values) is the most widely supported data format:

  • Universal Compatibility: Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, Numbers, and any spreadsheet app
  • Database Import: MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and all databases accept CSV
  • Programming Languages: Python, R, JavaScript — all have native CSV support
  • Small File Size: Plain text format keeps files compact
  • Version Control: Git can diff CSV files, making them great for tracking changes

Method 1: Table to Excel Extension (Recommended)

The fastest way to convert HTML tables to CSV is using a dedicated Chrome extension:

  1. Install Table to Excel from the Chrome Web Store (free)
  2. Open the extension popup and select CSV as your export format
  3. Visit any webpage with tables
  4. Hover over the table — export buttons appear automatically
  5. Click the export button to download as CSV
💡 Pro Tip: Table to Excel also supports TSV (Tab-Separated Values) — just change the delimiter setting!

Method 2: Copy & Paste (Basic)

For simple tables, you can manually copy and paste:

  1. Select the table on the webpage
  2. Copy with Ctrl+C
  3. Paste into a text editor
  4. Clean up formatting and add commas
  5. Save as .csv file

Limitations: Time-consuming, error-prone, doesn't handle merged cells or complex layouts.

Method 3: Developer Tools (Technical)

For developers who prefer code:

// JavaScript to extract table data
const table = document.querySelector('table');
let csv = '';
table.querySelectorAll('tr').forEach(row => {
    const cells = [...row.querySelectorAll('td, th')];
    csv += cells.map(c => `"${c.textContent}"`).join(',') + '\n';
});
console.log(csv);

Limitations: Requires coding knowledge, doesn't handle CSS Grid tables.

HTML Table to CSV vs TSV

Feature CSV (Comma) TSV (Tab)
Delimiter Comma (,) Tab character
Text with commas Requires quoting No issues
Excel compatibility ✅ Excellent ✅ Excellent
Database import ✅ Standard ✅ Supported
Best for General use Text with commas

Handling Special Cases

Tables with Merged Cells

Table to Excel properly handles colspan and rowspan, preserving the data structure when exporting to CSV.

CSS Grid Tables

Modern websites use CSS Grid instead of HTML <table> elements. Table to Excel detects these layouts and exports them correctly.

Dynamic Tables (React, Vue, Angular)

JavaScript-rendered tables are fully supported — the extension reads the final rendered DOM.

Use Cases for HTML Table to CSV

  • Data Analysis: Import web data into Python/R for analysis
  • Database Population: Seed databases with scraped table data
  • Backup/Archive: Save web tables before they change
  • Price Monitoring: Track competitor pricing tables
  • Research: Collect statistical tables from papers
⬇️ Export HTML Tables to CSV — Free