CSV Column Extractor
Extract specific columns from a CSV in your browser. Pick columns by name, preserve quoting, drop the rest. Free, private, no upload.
About this tool
Keep only the columns you need from a CSV file. Enter column names (comma-separated) and get a new CSV containing just those columns, in the order you listed them. Quoting and escaping are handled correctly throughout.
This is the browser equivalent of a SELECT statement for a CSV file: no spreadsheet app, no pandas, no risk of Excel mangling your leading zeros on the way through.
Common uses
- Strip PII columns from an export before sharing it.
- Reduce a wide analytics export to the three columns a report needs.
- Reorder columns to match an importer's expected layout.
Automate via API
The same conversion is available as a REST endpoint for scripts, pipelines, and backends:
curl -X POST https://payloadly.com/api/v1/tools/csv-column-extractor \ -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \ -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \ --data-binary @input.csv
Worked examples
Real payloads from tools people use daily, with the exact output this converter produces. Every example runs in your browser, so you can load one and adapt it to your own data.
Trim a Shopify product export
Shopify product CSVs have dozens of columns; keep just the handful an importer or price update actually needs.
Handle,Title,Vendor,Type,Variant Price,Variant SKU,Variant Inventory Qty classic-tee,Classic Tee,Atlas,Shirts,19.99,TEE-01,120 canvas-tote,Canvas Tote,Atlas,Bags,24.00,TOTE-01,58
Handle,Title,Variant Price classic-tee,Classic Tee,19.99 canvas-tote,Canvas Tote,24
Reduce an analytics export
Cut a wide analytics export down to the two columns a report needs, without opening a spreadsheet.
Page,Sessions,Bounce Rate,Avg Session Duration,Conversions /,1240,42.1,00:01:35,18 /pricing,880,38.0,00:02:10,54
Page,Sessions /,1240 /pricing,880
CSV notes
CSV (comma-separated values) is the lingua franca of spreadsheets, analytics exports, and bulk imports. It is tabular and flat: every row shares one set of columns, so nested structures must be flattened.
- Fields containing commas, quotes, or newlines must be quoted per RFC 4180.
- CSV has no type system; numbers and booleans are inferred on import.
- Nested objects are flattened to dot-notation columns (e.g. `user.name`).
Frequently asked questions
Is my data uploaded to a server?
No. This tool runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript, and there are no ads on the page. Nothing you paste or drop here is uploaded, logged, or stored, and you can verify that yourself: open your browser's developer tools and watch the Network tab while you convert (no requests leave the page), or disconnect from the internet after the page loads and keep working.
Is column matching case-sensitive?
Exact matches win first, then a case-insensitive fallback applies. If a requested column is missing entirely, the error lists every available column so you can spot the typo immediately.
Is there a size limit or a fee?
The browser tool is free with no signup and comfortably handles files up to tens of megabytes (limited by your device's memory). For automated or bulk processing inside your own scripts and pipelines, use the paid REST API.
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