Convert BibTeX to CSV

About this tool

bibtex-to-csv turns a BibTeX bibliography into a CSV table: one row per @type{key, ...} entry, one column per field. It is for the moments when a .bib file has to leave LaTeX — auditing a reference list in a spreadsheet, importing into a reference manager or a database, checking for duplicate DOIs, or handing a publication list to someone who does not use LaTeX.

The parser is a real BibTeX parser, not a regex sweep. It reads {braced}, "quoted" and bare-number values, brace-balanced nesting, @string macros with # concatenation, @comment / @preamble blocks, parenthesised entries (@article(key, ...)), values that wrap across lines, and free text between entries. LaTeX accent macros are decoded to real UTF-8 by default, so \'{e} becomes é, {\H o} becomes ő, \ss becomes ß, --- becomes an em dash, and protective braces disappear so {DNA} stays DNA. Output is quoted per RFC 4180: a cell is wrapped in quotes only when it contains the delimiter, a double quote, or a line break, and internal quotes are doubled.

Worked example

This BibTeX:

@article{curie1898,
  title   = {Sur une substance nouvelle radio-active},
  author  = {Curie, Marie and Curie, Pierre},
  journal = {Comptes Rendus},
  year    = {1898},
  volume  = {127},
  pages   = {175--178}
}

with the default settings gives:

type,key,title,author,year,journal,booktitle,volume,number,pages,publisher,doi,isbn,issn,url
article,curie1898,Sur une substance nouvelle radio-active,"Curie, Marie and Curie, Pierre",1898,Comptes Rendus,,127,,175–178,,,,,

Every standard column is present even when the entry has no such field, so rows from different entry types stay aligned. The author cell is quoted because it contains a comma; 175--178 was decoded to an en dash.

Switch Columns to Custom, list key,author,year, set Author name format to Last, First and Author separator to Semicolon, and the same input gives:

key,author,year
curie1898,"Curie, Marie; Curie, Pierre",1898

Options and limits

• Columns — Standard is the fixed set type,key,title,author,year,journal,booktitle,volume,number,pages,publisher,doi,isbn,issn,url. All fields emits type,key then every field name that appears anywhere in the file, alphabetised. Custom emits exactly the names you list, in your order.
• Custom column names are matched case-insensitively against field names; type and key are accepted as virtual columns, and a name no entry uses becomes an empty column. Up to 200 columns.
• Delimiter — comma, semicolon, tab or pipe. Semicolon is the one to pick when the CSV is destined for Excel in a locale that uses a comma as the decimal mark.
• Header row can be turned off when appending to an existing CSV.
• Decode LaTeX accents and braces is on by default. Turn it off to keep the source spelling byte-for-byte, which is what you want if the CSV is going back into LaTeX later.
• Author name format and Author separator only touch the author, editor and translator fields. Lowercase particles (van, von, de) stay with the last name, a Last, Jr, First suffix stays glued to the last name, and a brace-protected corporate name such as {The MIT Press} is never split.
• Expand @string macros resolves macro names and # concatenation. Off, the unresolved macro name is written into the cell instead.
• Row order — file order, cite key, year (entries with no parseable year go last), or entry type then key.
• Add UTF-8 BOM for Excel prepends a byte-order mark. It is off by default because parsers that do not strip a BOM will report the first column name as type.
• The input limit is 1,000,000 bytes per run. Split a larger .bib file and convert it in parts.
• Fields are not renamed, merged or validated: journal and booktitle stay separate columns (an @inproceedings entry can carry both), and no entry is enriched from an external database.

FAQ