Excel to JSON Lines Converter

Excel to JSON Lines (JSONL) Converter Guide

This online Excel to JSON Lines converter transforms your spreadsheets into JSONL format, where each line is a standalone JSON value. JSON Lines is perfect for streaming data, log processing, and big‑data pipelines.

Why use JSON Lines instead of normal JSON?

• Streaming-friendly: Process large datasets line by line without loading the entire file into memory.
• Big‑data ready: Commonly used in tools like Hadoop, Spark, Elasticsearch, and log aggregation systems.
• Easy appends: You can append new lines to the file without breaking the structure.
• Simpler parsing: Many command‑line and ETL tools work naturally with JSONL files.

Key features

• Excel support: Accepts .xlsx and .xls files.
• Multi‑sheet support: Converts every sheet in your workbook into JSON Lines.
• Header handling: Use the first row as headers or treat it as normal data.
• Instant conversion: The JSONL output is generated automatically after upload.
• Copy & download: Copy the JSON Lines text or download it as a .jsonl file.
• Browser‑only processing: All Excel‑to‑JSONL conversion happens locally.

How to convert Excel to JSON Lines

1. Upload your Excel file: Click the upload area or drag and drop your .xlsx or .xls spreadsheet.
2. Set header options: Turn on First row is header if the first row contains column names. Turn it off if every row is just data.
3. Wait for processing: The tool parses your workbook and converts each row to a separate JSON line.
4. Review the JSONL output: Scroll through the right‑hand panel to confirm the structure is correct.
5. Copy or download: Click Copy to send all JSON Lines to your clipboard or Download to save them as output.jsonl.

Examples

Example 1 – Excel with headers to JSON objects per line

Input Excel sheet:

• Row 1: id | email | active
• Row 2: 1 | alice@example.com | true
• Row 3: 2 | bob@example.com | false

With First row is header enabled, JSONL output looks like:

{ "id": 1, "email": "alice@example.com", "active": true }
{ "id": 2, "email": "bob@example.com",   "active": false }

Example 2 – Excel without headers to JSON arrays per line

Input Excel sheet:

• Row 1: 10 | 20
• Row 2: 30 | 40

With First row is header disabled, JSON Lines output becomes:

[10, 20]
[30, 40]

Typical use cases

• Log ingestion: Convert Excel exports to JSONL for log indexing platforms.
• Machine learning pipelines: Feed JSONL data into training and evaluation workflows.
• Streaming ETL jobs: Process records one line at a time in Spark, Flink, or similar tools.
• Data migration: Move tabular data from Excel to systems that expect JSON Lines.

FAQ – Excel to JSON Lines

What is JSON Lines (JSONL)?

JSON Lines is a format where each line in the file is a valid JSON value. It is also known as JSONL or NDJSON and is widely used for logs and streaming data.

Is this Excel to JSONL converter free?

Yes, the tool is completely free to use with no sign‑up required.

Does my Excel file leave my computer?

No. All Excel to JSON Lines conversions are processed directly in your browser. Your data is never uploaded to a server.

How are multiple sheets handled?

Each sheet in your workbook is read and converted. The resulting JSON Lines from all sheets are concatenated into a single JSONL output.

Can I open JSONL files in a text editor?

Yes. JSONL files are plain text, so you can open them in any text editor, IDE, or command‑line tool for searching and processing.