XML to CSV Converter

XML exports from e-commerce platforms, ERPs, banks and content systems usually contain a list of records hidden inside a few wrapper elements. This converter finds the repeating element, turns each one into a row, and flattens its children and attributes into columns, ready for Excel or a database import.

1. Paste the XML or drop an .xml file.
2. The repeating element (for example <product> or <item>) is detected and used for rows.
3. Check the column headers: nested elements appear as parent.child, attributes as @name.
4. Download the CSV, or switch the target to Excel for an .xlsx file.

Example

<rss version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <title>Example News</title>
    <item>
      <title>Data privacy rules tighten</title>
      <link>https://example.com/a</link>
      <category>Tech</category>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Markets close higher</title>
      <link>https://example.com/b</link>
      <category>Finance</category>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

title,link,category
Data privacy rules tighten,https://example.com/a,Tech
Markets close higher,https://example.com/b,Finance

The channel's own <title> is not part of the list, so the rows are taken from the repeated <item> elements, and a short notice tells you what was left out.

How rows are detected

The converter steps through single wrapper elements (such as <rss><channel> or <export><products>) and looks at the children. If they all share the same name, each becomes a row. If the level is mixed, the most frequently repeated element is used for rows — <item> in an RSS feed, <url> in a sitemap, <entry> in Atom.

Attributes and nested elements

Attributes become columns prefixed with @, and nested elements are flattened with dots: <address><city> becomes address.city. When an element repeats inside a record (several <tag> elements, for example), the values are kept together in one cell as JSON text.

Typical uses

• Opening a Google Merchant or marketplace product feed in a spreadsheet.
• Exporting RSS or Atom feed items for analysis.
• Listing the URLs and dates of an XML sitemap.
• Turning an ERP or banking XML export into something accountants can filter.

Convert XML to CSV in code

For one-off files the tool above is quickest. To automate the same task in a script or pipeline, these snippets are a good starting point.

Python (pandas)

import pandas as pd  # pip install pandas lxml

df = pd.read_xml("feed.xml", xpath="//item")
df.to_csv("feed.csv", index=False, encoding="utf-8-sig")

Node.js (fast-xml-parser)

// npm install fast-xml-parser
import { XMLParser } from "fast-xml-parser";
import { readFileSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";

const doc = new XMLParser().parse(readFileSync("feed.xml", "utf8"));
const items = [].concat(doc.rss.channel.item);
const esc = v => `"${String(v ?? "").replace(/"/g, '""')}"`;
const cols = Object.keys(items[0]);
writeFileSync("feed.csv", [cols, ...items.map(i => cols.map(c => i[c]))]
  .map(r => r.map(esc).join(",")).join("\n"));

Frequently asked questions

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