The CSV format lacks a strictly defined universal standard, with variations in field separators, quoting, escaping, and encoding. To ensure consistency, LingoHub implements a CSV standard for localization based on RFC4180.

Format

Use UTF-8 encoding for the best results, although you can export to other encodings.
The markup follows the RFC4180 standard.
LingoHub uses the comma , as the default column separator. You can change this to a semicolon ; or a <tab> in the project settings.
You can enclose all values in single or double quotes.
Escape double quotes by using two double quotes (e.g., "Hello, ""LingoHub""").
Supported line endings are LF and CRLF.
Quoted values can span multiple lines.
The first line serves as the header and defines the column names:
- First column: Holds the segment key. You can configure the column name (e.g., Title, Key, or Id) in the project settings.
- Second column (optional): Holds the segment description or comment. You can configure the column name (e.g., Description or Comment) in the project settings.
- Subsequent columns: Hold translation content or metadata.
  - Use ISO 639-1 language codes (e.g., en, pt-BR) as column names for translation content.
  - Use the language code combined with [status] (e.g., en[status]) to define the status for a specific language. Valid values are NEW, DRAFT, PRE_TRANSLATED, TRANSLATED, and APPROVED.
The default placeholder syntax is {placeholder_name}. If you require a different syntax, please contact our support team.

Lingohints can be included in the description column:

"Title","Description","en","pl","de"
"settings","General Settings <lh>{""status"": ""DRAFT"",""qc"": {""min"": ""4"",""max"": ""30""},""labels"": [""q3-2025""],""not_translatable"": false}</lh>","Settings","Ustawienia","Einstellungen"

Example

Additional example files are available on GitHub.

"Title","Description","en","pl","de"
"settings","General Settings","Settings","Ustawienia","Einstellungen"
"has_placeholders","This example shows the usage of placeholders","Hello {username}","Cześć {username}","Hallo {username}"
"quotes","Quotes in content","Hello ""LingoHub""","Cześć ""LingoHub""","Hallo ""LingoHub"""
"linebreaks","an example for linebreaks","Here is a
linebreak","Oto 
nowa linea","Hier ist ein
Zeilenumbruch"

"Key","Comment","en","pl","de", "en[status]", "pl[status]", "de[status]"
"settings","General Settings","Settings","Ustawienia","Einstellungen", "DRAFT", "TRANSLATED", "APPROVED"
"has_placeholders","This example shows the usage of placeholders","Hello {username}","Cześć {username}","Hallo {username}", "DRAFT", "TRANSLATED", "APPROVED"
"quotes","Quotes in content","Hello ""LingoHub""","Cześć ""LingoHub""","Hallo ""LingoHub""", "DRAFT", "TRANSLATED", "APPROVED"
"linebreaks","an example for linebreaks","Here is a
linebreak","Oto
nowa linea","Hier ist ein
Zeilenumbruch", "DRAFT", "TRANSLATED", "APPROVED"

Format

Example

References