# Convert CSV to Excel on your Mac, straight from Finder

> Turn CSV and TSV files into Excel workbooks from Finder: numbers and dates as values, leading zeros kept, a frozen header with filters. Offline.

Opening a CSV file in Excel often mangles it: codes lose their leading zeros, dates flip and decimal commas turn into text. Gander converts CSV and TSV files into proper Excel workbooks (.xlsx) from Finder’s menu, and shows you the table first.

![daily_forecast.tsv as a spreadsheet grid in Quick Look: dates, cities, station codes with leading zeros such as 08535, and temperatures right-aligned.](https://ganderfinder.com/img/features/csv-grid-2x.webp)

## How to do it

1. Install Gander from the Mac App Store and open it once, so macOS registers its Finder action.
2. In Finder, Control-click a CSV or TSV file.
3. Choose **Convert to Excel with Gander**, under Quick Actions or Services.
4. Gander shows the table with its export options. Choose where to save the workbook.

## A workbook that’s right the first time

Gander reads the file the way you meant it:

- Numbers, percentages and dates become real values, also with decimal commas (`1.234,5`) and day-first dates
- Codes stay as written: `007`, postcodes such as `08001`, phone numbers with `+` and long account numbers
- A bold, frozen header row with filter buttons, and columns sized to fit
- Comma, semicolon, tab or pipe separators, in UTF-8, UTF-16 or Windows-1252, detected for you
- Nothing in the file can become a formula: a cell that starts with `=` stays text

## See the table first

TSV, `.tab` and `.psv` files open in Quick Look as a spreadsheet grid with an **Export** button. macOS keeps `.csv` files on its own Quick Look preview, so open those with Gander (**Open With › Gander**): a table window with up to 200,000 rows that reloads as the file changes, with **File › Export › Excel Workbook** (⌘E).

## Big files and Shortcuts

Workbooks keep every row up to Excel’s own limit of 1,048,576 rows, and Gander tells you when a file goes past it. A 60 MB CSV file with over a million rows converts in about 11 seconds. Shortcuts has a **Convert to Excel** action for your automations.

## Questions

### Do I need Microsoft Excel installed?

No. Gander writes the .xlsx file itself. It is a standard workbook that Microsoft Excel opens without a repair prompt.

### Will my leading zeros and postcodes survive?

Yes. A value such as `007` stays text, and so does a whole column that has any code with a leading zero, so postcodes such as `08001` and `28013` stay as written.

### Why does a CSV file still show Apple’s preview when I press Space?

macOS reserves `.csv` files for its own Quick Look preview and doesn’t let other apps take over. Use the Finder action or Open With › Gander. TSV, `.tab` and `.psv` files get Gander’s preview.

### Is my data uploaded anywhere?

No. The conversion runs on your Mac, and Gander has no networking code.

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Gander is free on the Mac App Store, with no in-app purchases, no subscription and no account, and nothing you preview leaves your Mac. https://apps.apple.com/app/id6817038818

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