List to comma separated
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Turns a column of lines into one delimited line; every value trimmed, empty lines dropped, joined by whatever is in the separator field. The default is a comma and a space. The second option splits a delimited line back into a column.
How to use the list to comma separated
Three lines reading alpha, bravo, charlie come back as alpha, bravo, charlie. Every value is trimmed on the way, which matters more than it looks: a trailing space is invisible in the source and makes a value fail to match anything downstream. Empty rows are dropped too, so a gap in the middle of a pasted column does not turn into an empty value between two commas, which is what a spreadsheet formula would give you.
Splitting back is exact, and that is the part worth knowing. It looks for the separator as a literal string, so with the field set to , : comma and space: the text a,b, c splits into two values rather than three, because only the second comma has a space after it. Set the separator to a bare comma when you are splitting. The other limit is quoting: this is a joiner, not a CSV writer, so a value that itself contains the separator makes the result ambiguous and no amount of splitting will recover it. Either choose a separator the data does not contain. A pipe or a semicolon, or use the JSON to CSV converter, which quotes properly.
Questions
Copy the column and paste it. Each row arrives as its own line already.
The joined line is then ambiguous. Use a pipe or a semicolon, or the JSON to CSV converter, which quotes values properly.
It matches the separator exactly. A separator of comma-and-space will not split a,b; set it to a bare comma.
No, and neither is the whitespace around a value. A gap in the column does not become an empty entry.
Add an apostrophe as a prefix and again as a suffix with the prefix tool, then join the lines here.
Paste one into the field rather than pressing Tab, which moves to the next field. A semicolon or a pipe is easier.
The third option does, keeping the first of each. Run it, paste the result back, then join.