How to turn a list on a webpage into a CSV file
Open the page in Chrome, click the NeatCells icon, check the columns it found and click CSV. The file is UTF-8, so accents, ₹ and € survive, and the separator follows your language, or the one you pick in Settings.
Lists are not tables
Most data on the web is not in an HTML table. Search results, shop categories, directories and job boards show each item as a card: a title, a link, a price, a rating, a few labels. Copying such a list pastes one long column of text. To get a row per item and a column per field, a tool has to notice that the cards repeat and line up their parts.
That is what NeatCells does when you click its icon: it finds the repeated items, names the fields (Title, Price, Rating, Location…) and leaves out buttons, icons and empty fields. If it picks the wrong list, click Select on the page and then one item; every item like it is found.
Steps
- Open the page with the list.
- Click the NeatCells icon. The panel says what it found, for example "We found 24 cards".
- Remove columns you don't need (×), rename others by clicking their names, and use Remove duplicate rows if the page repeats items.
- Click CSV. The file is named after the page and today's date.
Open the CSV in Excel without surprises
- Odd characters such as "é" mean the file was read with the wrong encoding. NeatCells adds the mark Excel needs to read UTF-8; other tools may not. In Excel, Data › From Text/CSV lets you choose "65001: Unicode (UTF-8)".
- Everything in one column means Excel expected another separator. Countries that write decimals with a comma use semicolons. Choose comma or semicolon in NeatCells's Settings, or download Excel instead.
- Formulas from the page: text starting with =, +, - or @ could run as a formula when opened. NeatCells writes such text with a leading apostrophe, so it stays text.
CSV or Excel?
CSV is plain text: every program reads it, but it has no types, so numbers and dates are read again by whatever opens the file. An Excel file keeps the types, the header row, filters and links. Use CSV for databases, scripts and other tools; use Excel for people.
Questions
Is there a row limit?
No limit on the page you are on, up to 50,000 rows per run. Lists that load more as you scroll can be collected with "Scroll to load more".
Can I choose comma or semicolon?
Yes: Settings › CSV separator offers automatic (from your language), comma or semicolon.
Can I copy instead of saving a file?
Click Copy and paste into Excel or Google Sheets: the columns stay separate.