ConvertTo-Csv

ConvertTo-Csv [-InputObject*] <PSObject> [[-Delimiter] <Char>] [-NoTypeInformation] [<CommonParameters>]

ConvertTo-Csv [-InputObject*] <PSObject> [-NoTypeInformation] [-UseCulture] [<CommonParameters>]

The ConvertTo-CSV cmdlet returns a series of comma-separated (CSV) strings that represents the objects that you submit. You can then use the ConvertFrom-Csv cmdlet to re-create objects from the CSV strings. The resulting objects are CSV versions of the original objects that consist of string representations of the property values and no methods.

You can also use the Export-Csv and Import-Csv cmdlets to convert objects to CSV strings and back. Export-CSV is the same as ConvertTo-CSV , except that it saves the CSV strings to a file.

You can use the parameters of the ConvertTo-CSV cmdlet to specify a delimiter other than a comma or to direct ConvertTo-CSV to use the default delimiter for the current culture.

Parameters

-Delimiter <Char>

Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input False

Specifies a delimiter to separate the property values. The default is a comma (,). Enter a character, such as a colon (:).

To specify a semicolon (;), enclose it in quotation marks. Otherwise, it will be interpreted as the command delimiter.

-InputObject <PSObject>

This value is required
Default value is None
Accepts pipeline input ByPropertyName

Specifies the objects to export as CSV strings. Enter a variable that contains the objects or type a command or expression that gets the objects. You can also pipe objects to ConvertTo-CSV .

-NoTypeInformation [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Omits the type information header from the output. By default, the string in the output contains #TYPE followed by the fully-qualified name of the object type.

-UseCulture [<SwitchParameter>]

Default value is False
Accepts pipeline input False

Uses the list separator for the current culture as the data delimiter. The default is a comma (,).

This parameter is very useful in scripts that are being distributed to users worldwide. To find the list separator for a culture, use the following command: `(Get-Culture).TextInfo.ListSeparator`.

<CommonParameters>

This cmdlet supports the common parameters: Verbose, Debug,ErrorAction, ErrorVariable, WarningAction, WarningVariable,OutBuffer, PipelineVariable, and OutVariable.

Inputs

System.Management.Automation.PSObject

You can pipe any object that has an Extended Type System (ETS) adapter to ConvertTo-CSV .

Outputs

System.String

The CSV output is returned as a collection of strings.

Examples

Convert an object to CSV:

PS C:\> Get-Process powershell | ConvertTo-Csv
#TYPE System.Diagnostics.Process
"__NounName","Name","Handles","VM","WS","PM","NPM","Path","Company","CPU","FileVersion","ProductVersion","Descripti
on",
"Product","BasePriority","ExitCode","HasExited","ExitTime","Handle","HandleCount","Id","MachineName","MainWindowHan
dle"
,"MainWindowTitle","MainModule","MaxWorkingSet","MinWorkingSet","Modules","NonpagedSystemMemorySize","NonpagedSyste
mMem
orySize64","PagedMemorySize","PagedMemorySize64","PagedSystemMemorySize","PagedSystemMemorySize64","PeakPagedMemory
Size
","PeakPagedMemorySize64","PeakWorkingSet","PeakWorkingSet64","PeakVirtualMemorySize","PeakVirtualMemorySize64","Pr
iori
tyBoostEnabled","PriorityClass","PrivateMemorySize","PrivateMemorySize64","PrivilegedProcessorTime","ProcessName","
Proc
essorAffinity","Responding","SessionId","StartInfo","StartTime","SynchronizingObject","Threads","TotalProcessorTime
","U
serProcessorTime","VirtualMemorySize","VirtualMemorySize64","EnableRaisingEvents","StandardInput","StandardOutput",
"Sta
ndardError","WorkingSet","WorkingSet64","Site","Container"
"Process","powershell","216","597544960","60399616","63197184","21692","C:\WINDOWS\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\
powe
rshell.exe","Microsoft Corporation","3.4788223","6.1.6587.1 (fbl_srv_powershell(nigels).070711-0102)","6.1.6587.1","Win
dows PowerShell","Microsoftr Windowsr Operating System","8",,"False",,"860","216","5132",".","5636936","Windows PowerSh
ell 2.0 (04/17/2008 00:10:40)","System.Diagnostics.ProcessModule (powershell.exe)","1413120","204800","System.Diagnosti
cs.ProcessModuleCollection","21692","21692","63197184","63197184","320080","320080","63868928","63868928","60715008
","6
0715008","598642688","598642688","True","Normal","63197184","63197184","00:00:00.2028013","powershell","15","True",
"1",
"System.Diagnostics.ProcessStartInfo","4/21/2008 3:49:19 PM",,"System.Diagnostics.ProcessThreadCollection","00:00:03.51
00225","00:00:03.3072212","597544960","597544960","False",,,,"60399616","60399616",,

This command converts a single process object to CSV format. The command uses the Get-Process cmdlet to get the PowerShell process on the local computer. It uses a pipeline operator (|) to send the command to the ConvertTo-CSV cmdlet, which converts it to a series of comma-separated strings.

Convert a DateTime object to CSV:
```
PS C:\> $Date = Get-Date
PS C:\> ConvertTo-Csv -InputObject $Date -Delimiter ";" -NoTypeInformation
```
This example converts a DateTime object to CSV format.

The first command uses the Get-Date cmdlet to get the current date. It saves it in the $Date variable.

The second command uses the ConvertTo-CSV cmdlet to convert the DateTime object in the $Date variable to CSV format. The command uses the InputObject parameter to specify the object to be converted. It uses the Delimiter parameter to specify the delimiter that separates the object properties. It uses the NoTypeInformation parameter to suppress the #TYPE string.
Convert the PowerShell event log to CSV:
```
PS C:\> Get-EventLog -Log "windows powershell" | ConvertTo-Csv -UseCulture
```
This command converts the Windows PowerShell event log on the local computer to a series of CSV strings.

The command uses the Get-EventLog cmdlet to get the events in the Windows PowerShell log. A pipeline operator (|) sends the events to the ConvertTo-CSV cmdlet, which converts the events to CSV format. The command uses the UseCulture parameter, which uses the list separator for the current culture as the delimiter.

Additional Notes

 In CSV format, each object is represented by a comma-separated list of its property value. The property values 
 are converted to strings (by using the ToString() method of the object), so they are generally represented by 
 the name of the property value. ConvertTo-CSV * does not export the methods of the object.

 The format of the resulting CSV strings is as follows:

 - The first string consists of #TYPE followed by the fully-qualified name of the object type, such as #TYPE 
 System.Diagnostics.Process. To suppress this string, use the NoTypeInformation parameter.

 - The next string represents the column headers. It contains a comma-separated list of the names of all the 
 properties of the first object.

 - The remaining strings consist of comma-separated lists of the property values of each object. When you 
 submit multiple objects to ConvertTo-CSV , ConvertTo-CSV * orders the strings based on the properties of the 
 first object that you submit. If the remaining objects do not have one of the specified properties, the 
 property value of that object is Null, as represented by two consecutive commas. If the remaining objects have 
 additional properties, those property values are ignored.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. It is attributed to Microsoft Corporation and can be found here.

PowerShell Commands