Export CSV in R Using write.csv()

Use write.csv() to export R DataFrame to a CSV file with fields separated by comma delimiter, header (column names), rows index, and values surrounded with double quotes. You can also override this default behavior and export CSV without a header, without a row index or number, with no quotes, etc.

CSV file format is the easiest way to store scientific, analytical, or structured data (two-dimensional with rows and columns). Data in CSV is separated by delimiter most commonly comma (,) but you can also use any character like pipe, tab e.t.c

In my last article, I explained how to import a CSV file into a Data Frame, in this article, I will explain how to write or export a DataFrame to a CSV file by using different methods and their options.

1. Quick Examples

The following are quick examples of how to write/export a CSV file in R with and without header, with and without row number/index, encoding, etc.


# Quick Examples

# Example 1: Export to CSV without row names
write.csv(df,file='/Users/admin/new_file.csv', row.names=FALSE)

# Example 2: Export to CSV with blank for NA
write.csv(df,file='/Users/admin/new_file.csv',na='')

# Example 3: Export to CSV without quotes
write.csv(df,file='/Users/admin/new_file.csv',quote=FALSE)

# Example 4: Export to CSV without header
write.table(df,file='/Users/admin/new_file.csv',col.names=FALSE)

# Example 5: Write with UTF-8 Encoding
write.csv(df,file='/Users/admin/new_file.csv',fileEncoding = "UTF-8")

# Example 6: Load readr package
library(readr)
# Write to CSV file
write_csv(df, "/Users/admin/new_file.csv")

# Example 7: Load data.table package
library(data.table)
# Write to CSV file
fwrite(df, "/Users/admin/new_file.csv")

Let’s create an R DataFrame, run these examples and explore the output.


# Create DataFrame
df <- data.frame(
  id = c(10,11,12,13),
  name = c('sai','ram','deepika','sahithi'),
  gender = c('M','M',NA,'F'),
  dob = as.Date(c('1990-10-02','1981-3-24','1987-6-14','1985-8-16')),
  state = c('CA','NY',NA,NA)
)
df

Yields below output.

2. Export to CSV in R Using write.csv()

R base functions provide a write.csv() to export the DataFrame to a CSV file. By default, the exported CSV file contains headers, row index, missing data as NA values, and columns separated by comma delimiter.

Following is the syntax of the write.csv()


# Syntax of write.csv()
write.csv(input_dataframe,file=path, row.names = FALSE, ...)

input_dataframe – Input DataFrame you wanted to export.
file – Path where you wanted to write the file.
row.names – Use to ignore or include row names. Use value FALSE to ignore and TRUE to include. By default is set to TRUE.

2.1 Export CSV Example

Now, write the R DataFrame to a CSV file using the above syntax.


# Export DataFrame to CSV file
write.csv(df,file='/Users/admin/new_file.csv')

It exports the contents from the R DataFrame object df to a CSV file called new_file.csv at the specified location. In the below examples, I will cover how to exclude these in the exported CSV file.

If you want to write with different column names, rename DataFrame column names in R prior to writing.

2.2. Export CSV without Index or Row number

To export without row numbers/index use row.names argument on R write.csv() function, by default this argument is set to TRUE mean it exports the row numbers. The below examples write/export CSV without row numbers in R.


# Export to CSV without row names
write.csv(df,file='/Users/admin/new_file.csv', row.names=FALSE)

export csv without row — Export CSV without Index or Row Number

2.3. Write CSV NA as Blank (Empty String)

By default, all missing values are represented as NA on R DataFrame, and by exporting this to CSV also results in NA values for missing data. But sometimes you may want to export by replacing NA with Blank or an empty string. You can change this default behavior by exporting na argument with the blank or empty string on write.csv().


# Export to CSV with bank for NA
write.csv(df,file='/Users/admin/new_file.csv',na='')

This writes or exports the CSV with a blank for NA values.

r write na blank — Export CSV with a blank or empty string for NA

2.4. Export CSV without quotes

As you notice above export outputs, it writes every cell within quotes, If you want to write without quotes in CSV use quote=FALSE argument. By default, this is set to TRUE hence, write.csv() always exports with quotes.


# Export to CSV without quotes
write.csv(df,file='/Users/admin/new_file.csv',quote=FALSE)

R write without quotes — R write CSV without quotes

2.5. Write CSV file with Encoding

Use fileEncoding='UTF-8' as argument to write.csv() to export DataFrame to CSV with UTF-8 encoding.


# Write with UTF-8 Encoding
write.csv(df,file='/Users/admin/new_file.csv',fileEncoding = "UTF-8")

3. Export CSV without Header using write.table()

By using write.csv() you can’t export without a header in R however, you can use write.table() function with col.names=FALSE argument to export the data from DataFrame to CSV without header or column names.


# Export to CSV without header
write.table(df,file='/Users/admin/new_file.csv',col.names=FALSE)

r export csv without header — Export CSV without header

4. Use write_csv() from reader package

If you are working with larger data, you should use the write_csv() function readr package. readr is a third-party library hence, in order to use readr library, you need to first install it by using install.packages('readr'). Once installation completes, load the readr library in order to use this write_csv() method. To load a library in R use library("readr").


# Load readr package
library(readr)

# Write to CSV file
write_csv(df, "/Users/admin/new_file.csv")

5. Use fwrite() from data.table package

Finally, let’s use the data.table package to write CSV in R. Using this is the best approach when you are writing very large data sets.


# Load data.table package
library(data.table)

# Write to CSV file
fwrite(df, "/Users/admin/new_file.csv")

6. Conclusion

In this article, I have explained several R examples of how to export a CSV file without a header, without row numbers, without quotes e.t.c. Also, explained how to write CSV using write_csv() from readr and fwrite() from data.table package in R.

1. Quick Examples

2. Export to CSV in R Using write.csv()

2.1 Export CSV Example

2.2. Export CSV without Index or Row number

2.3. Write CSV NA as Blank (Empty String)

2.4. Export CSV without quotes

2.5. Write CSV file with Encoding

3. Export CSV without Header using write.table()

4. Use write_csv() from reader package

5. Use fwrite() from data.table package

6. Conclusion

References

Naveen Nelamali

1. Quick Examples

2. Export to CSV in R Using write.csv()

2.1 Export CSV Example

2.2. Export CSV without Index or Row number

2.3. Write CSV NA as Blank (Empty String)

2.4. Export CSV without quotes

2.5. Write CSV file with Encoding

3. Export CSV without Header using write.table()

4. Use write_csv() from reader package

5. Use fwrite() from data.table package

6. Conclusion

Related Articles

References

Naveen Nelamali