Cómo usar: Excel, CSV & JSON to PHP Array
- Paste CSV, Excel cells or JSON, or open a file.
- Choose the shape: associative arrays (one per row), plain row lists, or an array keyed by the first column.
- Pick short
[]or classicarray()syntax, the variable name orreturn, and the indentation. - Copy the PHP code or download it as a
.phpfile.
What does this PHP array converter do?
It turns tabular data or JSON into a PHP array literal you can paste into source code. That is useful for configuration files that return an array, database seeders, unit-test fixtures, lookup tables (countries, currencies, product SKUs) and WordPress or Laravel code that ships with static data.
<?php
$data = [
[
'id' => 1,
'name' => 'Ada Lovelace',
'active' => true,
],
];Array shapes
| Shape | Output | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Associative | [['id' => 1, 'name' => 'Ada'], …] | Seeders, foreach loops, inserting rows |
| Rows (lists) | [['id', 'name'], [1, 'Ada'], …] | fputcsv(), compact storage |
| Keyed by 1st column | ['1' => ['id' => 1, …], …] | Fast lookups: $users[$id] |
When the input is JSON, Keep original JSON structure converts it as-is — nested objects become nested associative arrays, exactly like json_decode($json, true) would produce.
Escaping and types
- Strings use single quotes, the fastest and safest PHP string form: only
\and'need escaping, and$variablesare never interpolated. - Numbers,
true/falseandnullare written as PHP literals, not strings. - Values with leading zeros (
"007") stay strings so nothing is lost.
Short [] vs array()
The short array syntax [] has been available since PHP 5.4 and is the standard in PSR-12 and modern frameworks. Choose array() only for very old codebases or coding standards that still require it. Trailing commas after the last element are valid in all PHP versions and keep diffs clean.
Need the same data for front-end code? Use CSV to JavaScript array. Going to a database instead? Try CSV & Excel to SQL.
También se busca como: json to php array, csv to php array, excel to php array, php array generator, convert json to php, php array from csv, laravel seeder array.
Herramientas que combinan con: Excel, CSV & JSON to PHP Array
- Excel to JSON — Open an .xlsx workbook or paste cells straight from Excel or Google Sheets and get clean JSON.
- Formateador JSON — Pega el código JSON para formatearlo, minimizarlo o validarlo.
- CSV to JSON — Paste CSV or TSV and get a JSON array of objects.
- JSON to Excel — Turn a JSON array into a real Excel workbook.
Preguntas frecuentes
How do I convert JSON to a PHP array?
json_decode($json, true) would return.Should I use [] or array()?
[] syntax unless you support PHP older than 5.4. It is shorter and recommended by PSR-12.Can I create a config file that returns an array?
return [...]; and keep the <?php tag — this is the format Laravel and many other frameworks use for config files.