Edit a CSV file on Mac without opening Excel

You receive a CSV export and need to correct a few values before using it elsewhere. Balise opens the file directly on your Mac: the grid displays its rows and columns, while source mode lets you inspect the underlying text.

1. Check how the file is read

Open your .csv in Balise. Check the columns before making changes. If every value appears in a single column, inspect the delimiter setting. If accented characters look wrong, check the encoding.

This example uses semicolons:

reference;item;quantity
00127;Notebook;3
00128;Pen;2

You should see three columns and two data rows. The reference 00127 is text: the leading zero is part of the identifier. Balise does not turn a value into a number or date just because it looks like one.

2. Correct a value in the grid

Select the notebook quantity and change 3 to 4. The value bar lets you read and edit the exact contents of the active cell.

You can also copy a range or add a row. For a small correction, work on the relevant cells and use ⌘Z to undo a change if needed.

3. Review the source and diagnostics

Check the source to confirm the result. In this example, the corrected line becomes:

00127;Notebook;4

The inspector can flag duplicate headers, unclosed fields or rows with inconsistent column counts. Review those findings before choosing a repair. Proposed repairs and conversions show a preview and produce a copy; they do not replace the original.

4. Save the CSV

Ordinary edits are saved to the open CSV with ⌘S. To keep an untouched version, work on a copy from the start. Reopen the result and check identifiers, accented characters and the changed value before passing it to another tool.

Balise is designed for inspecting and editing text data. It does not recalculate chains of formulas. If a very large file opens as a partial preview, that preview is read-only.

You can also reuse a range in a Markdown document. For supported formats and operations, see the Data chapter of the manual, available in French.