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TSV Viewer View tab-separated value data as a formatted, sortable table.

TSV Viewer illustration
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TSV Viewer

View tab-separated value data as a formatted, sortable table.

1

Paste TSV data

Paste your tab-separated data into the text area.

2

View as table

Data renders as a formatted table with row numbers.

3

Sort columns

Click column headers for ascending or descending sort.

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What Is TSV Viewer?

A TSV Viewer is a web-based application that renders tab-separated value data as a clean, sortable HTML table, allowing users to view tsv online in a readable format. Data analysts and scientists use it to inspect and explore data exported from databases, spreadsheets, and scientific applications, taking advantage of its ability to function as a tsv reader. One specific problem it solves is the need to quickly identify patterns or anomalies in large datasets, which can be difficult to do when viewing raw TSV data.

It addresses this issue by providing an interactive table display with features like row numbers and clickable column headers for sorting, making it a useful tsv table viewer. The tool also automatically detects numeric values in columns, allowing it to sort them correctly as numbers rather than strings. This is particularly useful when working with large datasets that contain a mix of numeric and text data.

What makes this tool different from other tab separated viewers is its ability to handle sorting and display of TSV data in the browser, without requiring any additional software or plugins. The code uses React hooks like useState and useMemo to efficiently manage the state of the table and sort the data when the user clicks on a column header, making it easy to view tsv online and explore the data. This functionality is implemented using JavaScript functions like localeCompare for string sorting and numeric subtraction for number sorting.

Why Use TSV Viewer?

  • Clean tabular display of tab-separated data.
  • Sortable columns with numeric auto-detection.
  • Row count and column count shown for quick overview.
  • No file upload needed — paste directly from clipboard.

Common Use Cases

Database Exports

View TSV data exported from databases and data warehouses.

Scientific Data

Display tab-separated scientific data and experimental results.

Clipboard Data

View data copied from spreadsheets (often tab-separated in clipboard).

Log Analysis

View tab-delimited log files in a readable table format.

Technical Guide

Underneath its interface, it relies on React hooks to manage state and optimize performance. The `useState` hook stores user input as a string in the component's state, while `useMemo` recalculates the rows and data when this input changes. This ensures that only necessary computations are performed, reducing unnecessary re-renders of the table. When parsing TSV data, it splits each line by newline characters (`\n`) and then further divides them into individual cells using tab characters (`\t`). The absence of quoting or escaping conventions in TSV simplifies this process compared to CSV.

The sorting functionality is implemented through a combination of JavaScript's `localeCompare` method for string comparison and numeric subtraction for numerical data. When the user clicks on a column header, it invokes the `handleSort` function, which updates the sort order based on whether the same column was previously sorted or not. This logic ensures that columns can be toggled between ascending and descending order seamlessly. It also automatically detects if a value is numeric by attempting to convert it to a number using `Number()`, allowing for correct numerical sorting even when mixed with string data.

The table structure itself utilizes standard HTML elements like `<table>`, `<thead>`, and `<tbody>` for organization, while React's rendering capabilities dynamically populate the rows based on the parsed TSV data. The use of specific class names in the JSX, such as `glass-input` and `text-sm font-medium mb-2 block`, indicates that CSS is used to control styling and layout, ensuring a visually appealing and user-friendly interface for viewing tab-separated values.

Tips & Best Practices

  • 1
    Data copied from Excel or Google Sheets is usually tab-separated — paste it directly.
  • 2
    The first row is always treated as column headers.
  • 3
    Click column headers to sort. Numeric columns are sorted numerically.
  • 4
    Empty cells are displayed as blank — they won't affect sorting.

Related Tools

Frequently Asked Questions

Q What is TSV?
TSV (Tab-Separated Values) is a text format where columns are separated by tab characters instead of commas.
Q Can I paste data from Excel?
Yes! Data copied from Excel is tab-separated, so paste it directly into the viewer.
Q How is TSV different from CSV?
TSV uses tabs as delimiters and doesn't require quoting for fields with commas. CSV uses commas and needs quoting for fields containing commas.
Q Can I convert TSV to CSV?
You can copy the TSV data and replace tabs with commas, or use our text tools for find-and-replace.
Q Is the first row always headers?
Yes, the first row is always treated as column headers.

About This Tool

TSV Viewer is a free online tool by FreeToolkit.ai. All processing happens directly in your browser — your data never leaves your device. No registration or installation required.