How to Open a Parquet File (3 Easy Ways)

A Parquet file will not open in Excel or a text editor. Here are three simple ways to see what is inside.

Parquet is a binary format built for analytics, so a normal text editor shows unreadable characters and Excel cannot open it at all. The data is stored by column and compressed, which is why it is small and fast for tools such as Spark, but also why you need the right tool to look inside.

The easiest way, with nothing to install, is to convert it to CSV in your browser. Open the Parquet to CSV converter, drop the .parquet file and click Convert. The file is read on your own computer and is not uploaded, which matters if it holds customer data. The CSV then opens in Excel or Google Sheets. Because everything runs in the browser, it works best for files up to about 30 MB; for bigger ones, use one of the next two methods.

If you use Python, pandas can read it in one line. Install the pyarrow package, then run: import pandas as pd, then df = pd.read_parquet("file.parquet"), then print(df.head()). This shows the first rows and the column types, and you can filter or summarize the data from there.

If you prefer SQL, DuckDB can query the file directly without loading it first. In the DuckDB command line, run: SELECT * FROM 'file.parquet' LIMIT 10; This is very fast even for files of several gigabytes, and you can count rows, group values or export the result to CSV.

Whichever method you choose, check the column types after opening. Parquet keeps them exactly, so dates, numbers and text appear as they were stored. When you convert to CSV, those types become plain text, so re-check dates and long numbers when you open the CSV in a spreadsheet.

Open the Parquet to CSV converter

Related tool pages

  • JSON, CSV, Parquet and Excel Converter: Convert between JSON, CSV, Parquet and Excel online for free, one file or a whole folder. It runs in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.
  • JSON to CSV Converter: Convert JSON to CSV online for free. Drop a file or paste data, click convert and download. It runs in your browser, so your data is never uploaded.
  • CSV to JSON Converter: Convert CSV to JSON online for free. Drop a file or paste data, click convert and download. It runs in your browser, so your data is never uploaded.
  • CSV to Parquet Converter: Convert CSV to Parquet online for free. Drop a file or paste data, click convert and download. It runs in your browser, so your data is never uploaded.
  • JSON to Parquet Converter: Convert JSON to Parquet online for free. Drop a file or paste data, click convert and download. It runs in your browser, so your data is never uploaded.
  • Parquet to JSON Converter: Convert Parquet to JSON online for free. Drop a file or paste data, click convert and download. It runs in your browser, so your data is never uploaded.

How to use the Parquet to CSV converter: step by step

  1. Open the Parquet to CSV converter.
  2. Drop your .parquet file into the box.
  3. Click Convert.
  4. Open the downloaded CSV in Excel or Google Sheets.

When to use the Parquet to CSV converter

  • Check what is inside a Parquet export from a data lake
  • Open Parquet data in Excel through a CSV
  • Share Parquet data with someone who cannot read it
  • Inspect the first rows before loading a big file

Example

Input: A Parquet file with the columns id, name and age.

Output: id,name,age 1,Ada,36 2,Alan,41

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert Parquet to CSV?

Drop your Parquet file (or paste the data), check the options, click Convert and download the CSV result.

How big can a file be?

It depends on your device. A few hundred MB usually works.

Which conversions does the Format Converter support?

Any direction between JSON, CSV, Parquet and Excel (.xlsx), for one file or a whole folder. Nested JSON is flattened into columns such as address.city. For Excel, the first sheet is read; old .xls files are not supported.

Why did my number or date change after converting?

Types are detected from the values. Turn off "Detect types" to keep everything as text, which also keeps leading zeros in IDs and phone numbers.

Tip: For a quick look at a very large Parquet file, DuckDB with LIMIT 10 is faster than converting the whole file.