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Broken CSV Checker
Find rows that do not match the column count of the header.
The first row is used as the expected column count for every following row.
Broken CSV Checker: Guide
- Intent
- Broken CSV checker online: find rows with missing or extra columns compared to the first row (often the header) to fix CSV import errors quickly.
- What it does
- Splits each line on commas and reports the line numbers whose column count differs from the first line.
- Key features
- Line number report, Expected column count, Fast scan
- Privacy
- Everything runs locally in your browser. No uploads.
- Best for
- Debugging 'CSV format broken' errors during imports or ETL pipelines
- Finding the exact line that breaks parsing due to stray commas or quotes
- Anyone searching 'broken CSV checker' or 'CSV parse error'
- Why this tool
- Pinpoints which lines differ from the header's column count
- Works from pasted CSV text so you can test small samples quickly
- Local-only: no uploads
How to use
- 1Paste your CSV text (include the header line).
- 2Click Check for broken rows.
- 3If broken rows are found, use the line numbers to fix the source CSV.
Common mistakes
- This is a lightweight checker: quoted commas and multi-line fields can produce false positives.
- Assumes commas, not semicolons/tabs/pipes.
- If the first row is not the true 'standard' row, the expected column count will be wrong.
Examples
Detect a row with an extra comma
Header: id,name
Row 2: 1,Alice
Row 3: 2,"Bob, Jr" <-- quoted comma (can look 'broken' to simple split)
Tool may flag line 3 as broken.
Find missing columns
Header: id,name,age
Row: 3,Charlie
Expected: 3 columns -> broken row