CSV Workshop
Why won't CSV Workshop accept my quoted fields?
CSV Workshop validates CSV syntax before applying cleaning options. Put an opening quote at the start of its field, double any literal quotes inside it, and place the delimiter or record ending immediately after the closing quote. Trimming cannot repair malformed quoting. Fix the source, then run Clean & preview again.
Check syntax before changing cleaning options
If a quoted field is rejected while Trim cell whitespace is enabled, the order of operations explains why. CSV Workshop parses the text into rows and cells first. Only after that succeeds does it trim cells, remove empty rows and remove duplicates. A quote error prevents those cleaning steps from starting.
Choose the actual separator under Input & output delimiter before selecting a file. The choices are comma, semicolon, tab and pipe; detection is manual. File loading validates the CSV before replacing the editor text. If an import fails, correct the original file elsewhere and choose it again, or paste its text into the editor to make the correction there.
Move spaces inside the quotes or remove them
For comma-separated input, Ada,"London, UK" is a valid two-field record. The opening quote immediately follows the comma. In Ada, "London, UK", the space starts an unquoted field, so the later quote produces Quote inside an unquoted field. Remove that space, or write Ada," London, UK" if the leading space belongs to the value.
The closing side is strict too. Ada,"London, UK" followed by a space before the record ends triggers Unexpected character after closing quote. Put the record ending or separator immediately after the closing quote. If a trailing space is intentional, put it inside the quotes. Once the syntax is valid, turn trimming off if those edge spaces must survive cleaning.
Double literal quotes inside a quoted value
A quotation mark inside a value needs a pair of quotation marks in the source. For example, Ada,"Says ""hello""" represents two fields, with Says "hello" as the second value. The outer pair encloses the whole field; each doubled pair supplies one literal quote. A backslash is not treated as a quote escape by this parser.
If the message says Unclosed quoted field, inspect the opening and closing quotes around the intended cell. Add the missing closing quote at the actual end of that value. Avoid appending a quote blindly at the end of the file: a misplaced opening quote can otherwise swallow separators and later records into one large cell.
Separate multiline cells from missing fields
Line breaks inside a quoted field are supported. A note with First line and Second line on separate physical lines can belong to one CSV record when both lines are enclosed by the same quoted field. Do not remove an intended line break just because the source occupies more screen lines than the preview has rows.
For a field-count error, count fields using the selected delimiter outside quoted values. If the first nonblank record is name,city,note, then Ada,London has only two fields. Write Ada,London, when the third field is intentionally empty. Conversely, Ada,London,UK,note has four fields; if London,UK is one city value, enclose it as "London,UK". The reported row is a parsed record number, which can differ from a physical text line number after multiline cells.
Rebuild the proof after each correction
Run Clean & preview after correcting the source and inspect the intended columns and cell contents. An error disables downloading and can leave an earlier proof visible. That table does not establish that the corrected text has been accepted. Finish with a successful clean before selecting Download CSV.
The download is named cleaned.csv. Its serializer adds quoting when a cell contains the selected delimiter, a quote or a line break, and doubles literal quotes. The downloaded text can therefore look different from the input while representing the cleaned cell values. Syntax correction remains your responsibility; this is not an automatic malformed-CSV repair tool.
AI-assisted ForgeHub editorial. App capabilities were checked against its implementation; this guide is not an independent review.
Frequently asked questions
Can trimming fix spaces outside a quoted field?
No. Parsing must succeed before trimming runs. Remove spaces before an opening quote and after a closing quote, or move intentional spaces inside the quoted field. Disable trimming if those edge spaces should remain in the value.
Why does the row number differ from my text editor line number?
The field-count check numbers parsed records. A quoted cell can contain line breaks, so one record can span several physical lines. Inspect the surrounding quoted fields rather than assuming the error points to the same numbered text line.
Does changing the delimiter convert my input to another separator?
No. The selected delimiter is used both to parse the input and serialize the output. Changing it changes how the source is read; CSV Workshop does not offer separate input and output delimiter controls.