TSV to JSON Guide: Tabs Become Objects
Learn how tab-separated rows map to JSON objects, header by header.
What is the TSV to JSON Converter?
This tool treats the first tab-separated row as headers and each later row as one object, matching headers to values by position. Values that look like numbers become numbers, and true and false become booleans, while other values stay as text. Short rows are padded with empty strings and extra values are ignored, so ragged input does not crash the conversion. It does not handle quoted tabs specially, because tab-separated files rarely need quoting, but a value containing a tab will split, so check such files first.
How to use it
- Paste your TSV into the box.
- Click Convert to JSON.
- Copy the JSON array.
Worked example
For the sample, the result is a JSON array of two objects, each with name, age as a number, and city, in the order of the input rows.
Why use tabs instead of commas?
Because text fields often contain commas but rarely contain tabs, so tab-separated files split more safely for plain text data.
Frequently asked questions
Does the first row have to be headers?
Yes. The first row supplies the object keys, and every later row becomes one object.
Are numbers kept as text?
No. Values that look like numbers become numbers, and true and false become booleans, so the JSON types match the data.