Last Updated: 27/07/2026
If you’ve ever exported a spreadsheet to CSV only to find your colours, bold text, and borders have vanished, you’re not alone. In this tutorial-based guide, we’ll walk through exactly how to save a LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet as a CSV file the right way – and explain why saving your original formatted file first matters more than most people realise.
Why CSV Files Matter
CSV (Comma-Separated Values) files are one of the most common formats for moving data between systems. If you have a spreadsheet full of email addresses, customer records, or transaction data, chances are you’ll eventually need to export it as a CSV to import into another tool – think email marketing platforms like MailChimp, CRMs, or e-commerce systems. Most applications that accept bulk data uploads expect either a CSV or XML file, but CSV is by far the most widely used.
Step 1: Save Your Original Spreadsheet as an ODS File First
Before you even think about exporting to CSV, save your working spreadsheet in LibreOffice’s native format (.ods). Here’s why this step is so important:
- CSV files store only raw data – no colours, no bold formatting, no borders, no cell styling of any kind.
- If you format your spreadsheet with things like a bold header row, a yellow highlight on your titles, green shading on data cells, or borders around your table, all of that visual formatting is preserved only in the ODS file.
- Once you export to CSV, that formatting is stripped out permanently in that file – the CSV will contain just the plain values, separated by commas.
So the rule of thumb: always save a formatted ODS copy first, especially if you’ve spent time styling your spreadsheet. That way, you always have a polished version to fall back on, and you can still generate a clean CSV whenever you need one for data transfer.
Step 2: Export the Spreadsheet as a CSV File
Once your formatted ODS file is saved, go to:
File → Save As
From the file type dropdown, select Text CSV (.csv) and give it a filename (for example, spreadsheet-01.csv). Save it in the same directory as your original file.
LibreOffice will prompt you with a warning asking if you want to keep the current format – click Use CSV Format! to continue.
Step 3: Choose the Correct Export Settings
After confirming the format, you’ll see the Export of text files dialog with a few important options:
- Character set – Choose the encoding appropriate for your language and system. Western European (Windows-1252/Latin-1) is the standard default for most English-language spreadsheets, but you should select the correct set for your region (for example, if you’re working with Cyrillic, Turkish, or Thai characters, choose the matching encoding, or use Unicode/UTF-8 if you need broader character support).
- Field delimiter – Leave this as a comma, which is the standard separator for CSV files.
- String delimiter – Leave this as quotation marks so text fields are properly enclosed.
- Save cell content as shown – Keep this checked so your data exports exactly as displayed, rather than exporting underlying formulas.
Click OK to complete the export.
Step 4: Verify Your CSV File
Once exported, you’ll now have two files in your folder: the original ODS spreadsheet and the new CSV file. If you open the CSV in a plain text editor like Notepad, you’ll see your headers (e.g., Date, Cost, Staff) at the top, followed by each row of data separated by commas – this is precisely what makes it a “comma-separated values” file.
If you open the CSV back up in LibreOffice, you’ll be prompted again to confirm the character set and delimiter – make sure you select the same options you used during export, especially the comma delimiter, or your data won’t display in separate columns correctly.
The Key Difference: ODS vs. CSV
When you compare the two files side by side:
- The ODS file retains all your formatting – bold headers, background colours, borders, everything.
- The CSV file contains the identical raw data, but with zero formatting – just plain text values separated by commas.
Both files hold the same underlying information; only the presentation differs. This is precisely why it’s best practice to save your formatted version first, then export a CSV copy whenever you need to transfer data elsewhere.
When Should You Use CSV?
CSV exports are most useful when you need to:
- Import a list of contacts or email addresses into an email marketing tool like MailChimp
- Migrate data between different software systems
- Upload bulk records into a database, CRM, or e-commerce platform
- Share data in a universally readable, lightweight format
Final Thoughts
Saving a LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet as a CSV file is simple once you know the steps – but the real key takeaway is to preserve your formatted work in ODS format first. That way you never lose your styling, and you can always generate a fresh, clean CSV export whenever a system needs one.
