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Combining Multiple CSV Files
Combining Multiple CSV Files

How to combine multiple CSV files using the MacOS Command Terminal

Julien Stamatakis avatar
Written by Julien Stamatakis
Updated over a week ago

Downloading bulk data via FTP can provide you CSV files, organized by dashboard, Node ID, data channel, and month.

This is a trick that can save you time when working with a dataset spread across multiple CSV files. 

Step 1

Download and save the CSV files that you want to combine into a single folder.
*Make sure that the folder is free from any files that you do not want to include in the compression.

Step 2

Open Terminal. Check your working directory.

#type in "pwd" and hit enter
pwd

Step 3

If the current working directory is not the folder where your folder with the CSV files are located, change the working directory to point it towards your folder as follows:

#type in "cd" _space_ your directory path
cd /Users/Stephanie/Desktop/filesToMerge

Tip: If you navigate to your desired folder, you can see the folder location path by right clicking, and selecting 'Get Info'.

Step 4

Type the following command in Terminal to create a new file with merged data.

#type "cat" _space_ "*.csv" _space_ ">nameofnewfile.csv" 
cat *.csv >merged_channelName.csv


Now your combined CSV file is the newly created file called "merged_channelName.csv"
Note: You can change the "merged_channelName" file name to any of your choosing. 

Step 5

Verify the file in your folder. 

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