Find distinct values in one CSV column
A city, product, status, or department can appear on many rows in an export. If you need the list of different entries in that field, this tool reads the column you choose and returns each non-empty value once. It’s useful for checking which categories are present, preparing a list for another spreadsheet, or spotting inconsistent labels before you build a report.
How values are matched
The extractor keeps the first occurrence of each exact value and preserves the order in which values appear in your file. Matching is case-sensitive: North and north are separate values. Spaces at the beginning or end of a non-empty value are kept, so North and North also remain separate. Empty cells and cells made only of whitespace are skipped.
The result is a separate, one-column CSV named after the selected source column. Your original table stays on the page for reference and is not edited.
Use the extractor
- Choose a CSV, TSV, or delimited text file, or paste the data into the input box.
- Review the complete source table and select the column you want to check.
- Choose Extract values to build the distinct list.
- Review the result, then copy it or download it as a CSV file.
For example, extracting the City column from a customer export can produce one entry each for London, Toronto, and Singapore, even if each city appears on many source rows. A city with different capitalization or extra spaces stays separate so you can see the inconsistency rather than having it silently changed.
Unique values vs. duplicate rows
This tool removes repeated values from one selected column in the result. It does not remove or combine records in your source CSV. To delete duplicate records, use the Remove Duplicate Rows tool; to count or total records within each category, use CSV Group By.
Common questions
Will it ignore blank cells?
Yes. Empty cells and cells containing only spaces or tabs are left out of the unique-value list.
Does it ignore upper- and lowercase differences?
No. Values are compared exactly, so Open and open appear as separate entries.
Are spaces trimmed before matching?
No. Non-empty values are kept as written. For example, Active and Active are treated as different values.
Does the result keep the order from my file?
Yes. Each value appears in the position where it first occurs in the selected column.
Does extracting values change my source file?
No. The table remains unchanged, and the extracted list is a separate result that you can copy or download.
Are my data uploaded?
No. The file is read and processed in your browser. CSV, TSV, and TXT files up to 50 MB are accepted.
Related tools
Use CSV Column Viewer to inspect a single field, CSV Group By to summarize records by category, or browse all CSV tools.