Excel to JSON Converter Online Free - Copy Paste Excel Data to JSON

Published: February 4, 2026 | 6 min read | By Free Text Convert Team

How to Convert Excel to JSON (Step-by-Step)

Converting Excel data to JSON is surprisingly simple with our online tool. Here's exactly how to do it:

Why Convert Excel to JSON?

JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) has become the standard data format for modern applications. Here's why you might need to convert Excel data to JSON:

• API Development: REST APIs typically accept and return JSON data
• Web Applications: JavaScript applications work natively with JSON
• Database Import: NoSQL databases like MongoDB use JSON-like documents
• Configuration Files: Many apps use JSON for settings and configs
• Data Exchange: JSON is the universal format for data interchange between systems

Excel vs JSON: Quick Comparison

JSON Output Format Options

Our Excel to JSON converter offers multiple output formats to match your needs:

1. Array of Objects (Most Common)

Each row becomes a JSON object with column headers as keys:

[
  {
    "Name": "John Smith",
    "Email": "john@example.com",
    "Age": 32
  },
  {
    "Name": "Jane Doe",
    "Email": "jane@example.com",
    "Age": 28
  }
]

2. Object with Arrays

Each column becomes an array of values:

{
  "Name": ["John Smith", "Jane Doe"],
  "Email": ["john@example.com", "jane@example.com"],
  "Age": [32, 28]
}

3. 2D Array

Simple nested arrays (good for charts and matrices):

[
  ["Name", "Email", "Age"],
  ["John Smith", "john@example.com", 32],
  ["Jane Doe", "jane@example.com", 28]
]

Converting Google Sheets to JSON

The process for Google Sheets is identical to Excel:

1. Open your Google Sheets document
2. Select the cells you want to convert
3. Press Ctrl+C to copy
4. Paste into our converter tool
5. Select "Tab" delimiter and convert

Common Issues & Solutions

Issue 1: Numbers Showing as Text

Solution: Enable "Parse numbers automatically" in our converter options. This converts numeric strings like "42" to actual numbers.

Issue 2: Special Characters Breaking JSON

Solution: Our tool automatically handles special characters, quotes, and commas within your data. No manual escaping needed!

Issue 3: Empty Cells Causing Problems

Solution: Empty cells are converted to empty strings ("") or can be excluded. Enable "Trim whitespace" for cleaner output.

Issue 4: Headers Not Detected

Solution: Make sure "First row contains headers" is checked in the converter options.

Real-World Use Cases

For Developers

• Convert product catalogs from Excel to JSON for e-commerce APIs
• Transform user data exports for database seeding
• Create mock data for frontend development
• Generate configuration files from spreadsheet templates

For Data Analysts

• Prepare datasets for JavaScript visualization libraries (D3.js, Chart.js)
• Convert reports for dashboard integrations
• Format data for NoSQL database imports

For Non-Technical Users

• Convert contact lists for app imports
• Transform inventory spreadsheets for online platforms
• Prepare data for web form configurations

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this Excel to JSON converter free?

Yes! Our tool is 100% free with no usage limits, no signup required, and no watermarks on your output.

Is my data secure?

Absolutely. All conversion happens in your browser. Your data never leaves your computer or gets sent to any server.

Can I convert large Excel files?

Yes, our tool handles large datasets efficiently. For very large files (10,000+ rows), you may want to process in batches for best performance.

What Excel formats are supported?

Any data you can copy from Excel works! This includes .xlsx, .xls, .csv files, and Google Sheets data.

Can I convert JSON back to Excel?

Yes! Use our JSON to CSV converter to transform JSON data back into a format you can open in Excel.

Do you support nested JSON?

Our tool creates flat JSON structures from tabular data. For complex nested structures, you may need to do some post-processing.

Related Tools You Might Need

• JSON Formatter - Beautify and validate your JSON output
• JSON to CSV Converter - Convert JSON back to spreadsheet format
• Remove Duplicates - Clean your data before converting
• Data Cleaning Suite - Complete data preparation toolkit

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