About the YAML to Excel Converter
YAML is a fine format for a person editing a list of records and a hopeless one for anyone who wants to total a column or sort by date. This converter finds the list inside your document and writes it as a genuine xlsx workbook, so the file opens straight into Excel, Numbers, LibreOffice Calc or Google Sheets with no import wizard in the way.
The list is found by walking the document until the first sequence of mappings appears, which means a file wrapping its rows under a key such as rows or records works without any configuration. Each entry becomes a row and each leaf value becomes a column, with nested mappings flattened into dotted headers so a monthly figure under a nested key still gets its own column rather than being crushed into one cell of text.
Types are carried across rather than stringified. A number written in the YAML is written to the sheet as a numeric cell, so it sums and sorts correctly the moment the file opens, and a boolean is written as a boolean cell. The workbook is assembled in the browser as a real Office Open XML package, not a renamed CSV, which is why Excel opens it without the security banner that renamed files trigger. The output pane summarises the row count, the column list and the first few rows so you can check the shape before saving. For a text export instead, YAML to CSV is the lighter option.
How to use
- Paste the YAML file that contains your list of records.
- Read the summary to confirm the row count and the columns that were detected.
- Set a sheet name and a file name in the toolbar.
- Press Download and the workbook is written straight to your downloads folder.
Common questions
- Is the download a genuine Excel file?
- Yes. It is a valid xlsx package with a worksheet part, so Excel opens it directly with no conversion prompt.
- What if my YAML has no list of records?
- The whole document is flattened into a single row of dotted keys, which is still useful for a settings file.
- Do numbers arrive as numbers?
- Yes. Numeric YAML scalars become numeric cells, so totals and sorting work without touching the column format.
- Can it write more than one sheet?
- No. One run produces one sheet from one list. Split the document and run it again for a second sheet.