DEV Community

Cover image for I Built a Privacy-First CSV Explorer That Works Entirely in Your Browser
dinesh kumar
dinesh kumar

Posted on

I Built a Privacy-First CSV Explorer That Works Entirely in Your Browser

Why I Built This

CSV files are everywhere — exports from databases, APIs, analytics tools, surveys, and reports.

But working with them is still painful:

Excel crashes on large files

Online tools require uploads (privacy risk)

Many tools feel heavy for quick exploration

I wanted a tool that:

Works instantly

Runs fully in the browser

Never uploads data

Feels simple but powerful

So I built CSV Explorer — a free, web-based CSV analysis tool.

👉 Live app:
https://innoadeq.github.io/csv-explorer/

What CSV Explorer Does

CSV Explorer lets you upload, explore, filter, and visualize CSV files directly in your browser.

No signup.
No backend.
No data uploads.

Everything runs locally.

Core Features
📂 Smart CSV Upload & Parsing

Drag-and-drop CSV upload

Automatic header detection

Smart data type inference (string, number, date, boolean)

Handles large CSV files efficiently

🧠 Intelligent Column Management

Automatically detects all columns

Search columns instantly

Select/deselect columns to focus your analysis

Collapsible column selector for mobile users

Avoids overwhelming users with too many fields

🔍 Advanced Data Filtering

Filters adapt based on column type:

Text: partial matching

Numbers: ranges, comparisons, exact values

Dates: from/to date selection

Booleans: dropdown filter

All filtering happens in real time.

📄 Smart Pagination

Configurable rows per page (10, 25, 50, 100)

First / Previous / Next / Last navigation

Clear record count and page info

Mobile-friendly controls

📊 Data Visualization

Bar charts: sum, average, count, min, max

Pie charts: distribution and proportions

Flexible column selection

Built using Chart.js

Perfect for quick insights without exporting again.

🔒 Privacy & Security (Core Principle)

100% client-side processing

Files never leave your browser

No tracking, no analytics, no storage

Works offline once loaded

This makes it safe for sensitive or internal data.

🎯 Who Is This For?

Data analysts exploring datasets

Business users analyzing reports

Researchers working with surveys

Students learning data analysis

Developers inspecting CSV exports

Anyone tired of Excel limitations 😄

🚀 Try It Out

🔗 CSV Explorer:
https://innoadeq.github.io/csv-explorer/

I’d love feedback, feature requests, or suggestions from the community.

Top comments (1)

Collapse
 
onlineproxyio profile image
OnlineProxy

Tested on a MacBook Pro M2 Pro 32 GB, macOS 14.5 across Chrome 120/Safari 17.4/Firefox 121, plus a Windows 11 i7‑12700H. It absolutely nails the instant, private CSV peek-no uploads, no fuss-with super‑snappy type‑aware filters. Performance is solid: Chrome chugs through ~350 MB in ~12 s and keeps filters around 100-200 ms, Firefox is close, Safari lags a bit, and streaming parsing plus virtualized rows are totally worth a tiny upfront pause because smooth interactions matter more than raw load speed. Roadmap‑wise, ship pivot/group‑by first, then multi‑file joins and saved views, open‑source the core, provide versioned offline bundles and consider a paid, self‑hostable air‑gapped build.