Column to Comma-Separated List

Spreadsheets keep values in columns; many other places want them in a single line. A form field expects tags separated by commas, a SQL query needs WHERE id IN ('1001', '1002'), a script wants a JSON array. Copy the column, paste it here and the list is ready. It works in the other direction too.

Separators and quotes

Any separator works: a comma and a space, a bare comma, a semicolon, a pipe or a tab (type \t). Values can be wrapped in single quotes, double quotes or backticks, and the whole list can be wrapped in text of your choice, such as brackets. Long lists can be broken over several lines with a fixed number of items per line, which keeps queries readable.

SQL IN lists

The SQL IN preset writes each value in single quotes, separated by commas, inside brackets. Values that contain a single quote, such as O’Brien typed with a straight apostrophe, would break the query, so the quote is doubled the way SQL expects: ‘O’‘Brien’. Numbers can be left unquoted by choosing “No quotes” while keeping the brackets.

JSON arrays

The JSON preset writes a valid JSON array of strings. Each value is encoded as a proper JSON string, so double quotes, backslashes and control characters inside values are escaped and the result parses without errors.

Cleaning on the way

Trimming removes stray spaces copied from cells, skipping empty items ignores blank rows, and removing duplicates keeps each value once in its original order. The item counter shows how many values ended up in the list.

Back to a column

Press the swap button to go the other way: paste “red, green, blue” and get one item per line, ready to paste into a spreadsheet column. Quoted items that contain the separator stay together, so “blue, light” remains one item, surrounding brackets are removed and doubled quotes inside items are turned back into single ones. The separator can be detected or chosen.

Privacy

The conversion runs in your browser. IDs, customer numbers and other values you paste are never uploaded.

Quoting rules in short

Numbers in SQL can go without quotes, text must be quoted, and a quote inside a value is written twice. CSV and spreadsheet imports usually accept double quotes, with the same doubling rule. JSON always uses double quotes and escapes inner quotes with a backslash, which is why the JSON preset encodes each value separately rather than just wrapping it. Backticks quote column and table names in MySQL, not values. Choosing the preset that matches the destination avoids the classic error where one name with an apostrophe breaks an entire query.

A worked example

Paste the column 1001, 1002, 1003, O’Brien, 1002 with the SQL IN preset and “Remove duplicates” on. The result is (‘1001’, ‘1002’, ‘1003’, ‘O’‘Brien’): four items, the repeated 1002 dropped, and the apostrophe doubled so the query runs.

Related tools

Add other text around each line with Add Prefix and Suffix, split lines into several columns with Split Text, remove repeated values first with Remove Duplicate Lines, or turn a whole table into JSON with CSV to JSON.