Compare
ORC vs CSV
ORC is a typed columnar binary format suited to analytical systems that read selected columns. CSV is a text format for rows and delimited fields that people and general-purpose tools can handle easily.
Which format should you choose?
Consider ORC for large datasets queried by an analytics platform. Use CSV when people need to inspect a simple table or exchange it with general tools.
Good fit for ORC
Store large structured tables for analytics
- Queries reading selected columns and using indexes
Good fit for CSV
Tabular-data exchange
- Transferring one simple table between applications
Basic information
| Field | ORC | CSV |
|---|---|---|
| Extension | .orc | .csv |
| MIME type | application/vnd.apache.orc | text/csv |
| Common uses | Store large structured tables for analytics | Tabular-data exchange |
| How to open | Use an ORC-aware tool to inspect schema, columns, row counts, compression, and sample values. | When importing into a spreadsheet, set the character encoding and delimiter. Check that leading zeros, date-like values, and long numbers are not automatically converted. |
| Export or convert | When converting to Parquet or CSV, verify types, nulls, timestamps, decimals, partitions, and row counts. | Exporting XLSX to CSV normally writes values from only one selected sheet. Keep formulas, formatting, other sheets, and charts separately. |
Choose by use case
Queries reading selected columns and using indexes
Store large structured tables for analytics
ORCTransferring one simple table between applications
Tabular-data exchange
CSVKey point 1
ORC stores data by column and can include type information and file indexes, but requires compatible engines or libraries.
More on the differencesKey point 2
CSV is easy to inspect as text but does not preserve spreadsheet formatting, multiple sheets, or formulas from XLSX.
More on the differencesMore on the differences
When converting CSV to ORC, define and verify types, nulls, timestamps, character encoding, delimiters, and quoting rules.
- ORC supports schema-aware analytical storage and column projection.
- CSV is broadly usable but leaves some type and parsing behavior to the importing tool.
Frequently asked questions
Can I open an ORC file in a spreadsheet app?
Usually not directly. Use an ORC-compatible engine or library to query or export a tabular view such as CSV.