csv to excel

Convert CSV files to professionally formatted Excel workbooks with Chinese character support, automatic formatting, and multi-sheet capabilities. Use when users need to: (1) Convert single CSV to Excel, (2) Combine multiple CSV files into one Excel with separate sheets, (3) Format CSV data with headers, borders, and auto-adjusted columns, (4) Handle Chinese or other non-ASCII characters in CSV files, or (5) Create professional Excel reports from CSV data.

CSV To Excel Converter

Overview

This skill enables conversion of CSV files to Excel format with professional formatting, proper encoding handling for Chinese characters, and support for combining multiple CSV files into a single Excel workbook with separate sheets.

Quick Start

Use the csv_to_excel.py script for all conversions:

bash

# Single CSV to Excel
python scripts/csv_to_excel.py input.csv output.xlsx

# Multiple CSVs to one Excel (each becomes a sheet)
python scripts/csv_to_excel.py file1.csv file2.csv file3.csv --output combined.xlsx

# With custom sheet names
python scripts/csv_to_excel.py sales.csv inventory.csv --output report.xlsx --sheet-names "销售数据" "库存数据"

Features

Automatic Encoding Detection

• Detects CSV encoding automatically (UTF-8, GBK, GB2312, UTF-8-SIG)
• Ensures Chinese characters display correctly in Excel
• No manual encoding specification needed

Professional Formatting

• Header row: Bold white text on blue background
• Borders: Thin borders around all cells
• Column widths: Auto-adjusted based on content (handles Chinese characters properly)
• Frozen panes: Header row frozen for easy scrolling
• Alignment: Headers centered

Multi-Sheet Support

• Combine multiple CSV files into one Excel workbook
• Each CSV becomes a separate sheet
• Custom sheet names supported
• Sheet names default to CSV filenames (max 31 characters)

Common Usage Patterns

Pattern 1: Single File Conversion

User says: "Convert this data.csv to Excel"

bash

python scripts/csv_to_excel.py data.csv data.xlsx

Pattern 2: Multiple Files to Multi-Sheet Excel

User says: "Combine these CSV files into one Excel, each file as a separate sheet"

bash

python scripts/csv_to_excel.py sales_2024.csv sales_2025.csv inventory.csv --output report.xlsx

Result: report.xlsx with 3 sheets named "sales_2024", "sales_2025", "inventory"

Pattern 3: Custom Sheet Names

User says: "Create an Excel with these CSVs and name the sheets in Chinese"

bash

python scripts/csv_to_excel.py q1.csv q2.csv q3.csv q4.csv --output 年度报告.xlsx --sheet-names "第一季度" "第二季度" "第三季度" "第四季度"

Pattern 4: Handling Chinese Content

User says: "This CSV has Chinese text and it shows as garbled characters in Excel"

The script automatically detects encoding and handles Chinese characters:

bash

python scripts/csv_to_excel.py 中文数据.csv 输出.xlsx

Technical Details

Encoding Support

The script tries these encodings in order:

1. UTF-8
2. GBK (common for Chinese Windows)
3. GB2312 (simplified Chinese)
4. UTF-8-SIG (UTF-8 with BOM)
5. Latin1 (fallback)

CSV Dialect Detection

• Automatically detects delimiter (comma, semicolon, tab, etc.)
• Handles quoted fields
• Works with various CSV formats

Column Width Calculation

• Chinese characters counted as 2 width units
• ASCII characters counted as 1 width unit
• Maximum width capped at 50 for readability
• Adds 2 units padding for visual comfort

Dependencies

The script requires openpyxl:

bash

pip install openpyxl

Troubleshooting

Issue: Chinese characters still appear garbled

• Solution: The CSV file may have a rare encoding. Try converting the CSV to UTF-8 first using a text editor.

Issue: Sheet name error

• Solution: Excel sheet names must be ≤31 characters. The script auto-truncates, but you can specify shorter custom names.

Issue: Empty sheets created

• Solution: Check that CSV files are not empty and are properly formatted.

Issue: Script not found

• Solution: Run the script from the skill directory or use the full path: python .kiro/skills/csv-to-excel/scripts/csv_to_excel.py