Every data and archive tool, in one place.

CSV, Excel or JSON?

CSV is plain text, one row per line with commas between the values. Every spreadsheet, database and programming language reads it, which makes it the safest way to hand data to another system. It holds one sheet and no formatting or formulas, so a workbook converted to CSV keeps the values only.

XLSX keeps several sheets, formatting and formulas, and is the right choice when a person will open the file. JSON is the format web APIs and apps use: an Excel or CSV table becomes a list of records whose keys are the header row, and a JSON list of records flattens back into a table.

JSON, YAML and XML

These hold the same kind of nested data in different notation. YAML is the easiest to read and edit by hand, which is why configuration and CI files use it. JSON is stricter and is what most code expects. XML is older and still common in feeds, office formats and enterprise systems. TSV is CSV with tabs instead of commas, useful when the values themselves contain commas.

Which archive format?

ZIP opens on every computer and phone without extra software, so send a ZIP when you do not know what the other person uses. 7z usually compresses smaller but needs 7-Zip or a similar app to open. TAR is the Unix format for bundling files, often compressed as tar.gz, and is what servers and build pipelines expect.

A RAR archive can be opened and repacked as ZIP, but nothing here creates RAR files, because the format is proprietary. Repacking keeps every file and folder name.

Privacy and limits

Conversions between CSV, TSV, JSON, YAML and XML run in your browser, so the file is never uploaded. Spreadsheets are converted with pandas and LibreOffice, and archives with 7-Zip, on FileWhirl's own server, where uploads are deleted after 1 hour. Each tool's page says where its file goes, and there is no watermark.