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How to convert XLSX to CSV from the command line

Batch-convert Excel files to CSV with LibreOffice, csvkit, PowerShell or ssconvert, including every sheet and UTF-8 output. Commands tested and explained.

Updated October 2026

Need to convert many Excel files, or run the conversion on a schedule or a server? These command-line tools do it without opening a spreadsheet app. All of them are free.

LibreOffice (Windows, Mac, Linux)

LibreOffice can convert from the command line without opening a window. The simplest form converts the first sheet of every .xlsx file in a folder:

soffice --headless --convert-to csv --outdir out *.xlsx

To control the format and export every sheet (LibreOffice 7.2 or later), add the CSV filter options:

soffice --headless --convert-to "csv:Text - txt - csv (StarCalc):44,34,76,1,,0,false,true,true,false,false,-1" --outdir out workbook.xlsx

• 44 is the comma separator (use 59 for a semicolon or 9 for a tab).
• 34 puts double quotes around text that needs them, and 76 is UTF-8.
• The true in ninth place saves cell contents as shown, with number formats applied.
• The final -1 exports every sheet, as workbook-SheetName.csv. Use 1, 2 and so on for a single sheet.

It works with .xls, .xlsb and .ods files too. On Windows, run it as "C:\Program Files\LibreOffice\program\soffice.exe". Close LibreOffice first, or the command may return without doing anything.

csvkit (Python)

csvkit is a set of command-line CSV tools. Install it with pip install csvkit, then:

in2csv -n workbook.xlsx                          # list the sheet names
in2csv -I --sheet "Orders" workbook.xlsx > orders.csv
in2csv -I --write-sheets - --use-sheet-names workbook.xlsx

The last line writes every sheet to its own CSV, named after the workbook and the sheet. Keep the -I (--no-inference) flag: without it, csvkit guesses types and turns 000451 into 451.

PowerShell with Excel installed (Windows)

If Excel is installed, PowerShell can drive it to save every sheet as a UTF-8 CSV. Change the two paths, then paste it into PowerShell:

$file = "C:\data\workbook.xlsx"
$out  = "C:\data\csv"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $out | Out-Null
$excel = New-Object -ComObject Excel.Application
$excel.DisplayAlerts = $false
$wb = $excel.Workbooks.Open($file)
foreach ($ws in $wb.Worksheets) {
    $ws.Copy()
    $excel.ActiveWorkbook.SaveAs((Join-Path $out ($ws.Name + ".csv")), 62)
    $excel.ActiveWorkbook.Close($false)
}
$wb.Close($false)
$excel.Quit()

The number 62 is Excel's code for CSV UTF-8 (Excel 2016 and later). Use 6 for the older ANSI CSV. Like the Excel macro, this saves values as Excel displays them.

Gnumeric's ssconvert (Linux)

On Linux, the Gnumeric spreadsheet's ssconvert tool is light and fast:

ssconvert -S --export-type=Gnumeric_stf:stf_csv workbook.xlsx "out_%s.csv"

-S writes one file per sheet, and %s is replaced by the sheet name (%n gives the sheet number).

Which one should you use?

For a one-off conversion, xlsxtocsv.com is quicker: no install, every sheet in one click, and the file stays on your computer. For scripts, see converting with Python.