What element names does it use?

Default: ` ` wrapping each record, with cells as child elements named after the CSV header. If no header, ` `, ` `, etc.

What about the root element?

Configurable — default is ` `. Set anything that's a valid XML name (starts with letter, no spaces, no colons unless namespaced).

Does it escape XML special characters?

Yes — `&`, ` `, and quotes are properly entity-encoded. The output always parses as valid XML regardless of CSV content.

Can I output attribute-style instead of element-style?

Yes — toggle to put each CSV column as an attribute on ` ` instead of a child element. More compact, slightly less expressive.

CSV to XML | DevTools Surf

DevTools Surf

Example: CSV to XML

A worked example, rendered from real sample data. Sign in to run the tool on your own input.

Input

name,email,role
Alice,alice@test.com,admin
Bob,bob@test.com,user

Output

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<root>
  <item>
    <name>Alice</name>
    <email>alice@test.com</email>
    <role>admin</role>
  </item>
  <item>
    <name>Bob</name>
    <email>bob@test.com</email>
    <role>user</role>
  </item>
</root>

About CSV to XML

Convert CSV data to XML format. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Converters collection.

Use Cases

Enterprise devs converting CSV exports for XML-based import systems
Integration engineers transforming CSV data feeds into XML for SOAP services
Data engineers converting CSV files to XML for legacy ETL pipelines
Business analysts preparing CSV data for XML-consuming reporting tools

Tips

Specify element names for rows and the root XML container
Check that CSV headers become valid XML element names
Verify that special characters in CSV are properly XML-escaped

Fun Facts

CSV headers with spaces or special characters must be sanitized to create valid XML element names, which cannot start with numbers.
XML's strict structure means CSV-to-XML conversion always increases file size, typically by 2-4x due to opening and closing tags.
The first widely-used CSV-to-XML tools appeared in the early 2000s as enterprises migrated flat files to XML-based data interchange.

FAQ

What element names does it use?: Default: `<row>` wrapping each record, with cells as child elements named after the CSV header. If no header, `<cell1>`, `<cell2>`, etc.
What about the root element?: Configurable — default is `<rows>`. Set anything that's a valid XML name (starts with letter, no spaces, no colons unless namespaced).
Does it escape XML special characters?: Yes — `&`, `<`, `>`, and quotes are properly entity-encoded. The output always parses as valid XML regardless of CSV content.
Can I output attribute-style instead of element-style?: Yes — toggle to put each CSV column as an attribute on `<row>` instead of a child element. More compact, slightly less expressive.

Related Converters Tools

JSON to XML JSON to CSV JSON to YAML JSON to TSV JSON to String XML to JSON XML to CSV XML to String