fputcsv()

The fputcsv() function formats a single row of data — given as a PHP array — into a CSV (comma-separated values) line and writes it to an open file. It is the standard way to export tabular data such as reports, database exports, or spreadsheets that users will open in Excel, Google Sheets, or LibreOffice.

This page covers the syntax and parameters, the typical write loop, how fputcsv() quotes and escapes special characters automatically, how to control the delimiter and enclosure, and the most common gotchas (the trailing newline, UTF-8 in Excel, and the changing default for the $escape parameter).

Syntax

fputcsv(
    resource $stream,
    array $fields,
    string $separator = ",",
    string $enclosure = "\"",
    string $escape = "\\",
    string $eol = "\n"
): int|false

Return value: the number of bytes written, or false on failure.

The $eol parameter is available from PHP 8.1, and PHP 9.0 changes the default value of $escape from "\\" to "". If you want stable, portable output today, pass escape: "" explicitly.

How fputcsv() Works

fputcsv() takes one array and writes exactly one line. To export a table you call it once per row inside a loop. The function handles quoting for you: any field that contains the separator, the enclosure, or a newline is automatically wrapped in the enclosure character, and embedded quotes are doubled.

The basic workflow is:

1. Build an array (or array of arrays) holding the data to export.
2. Open the target file for writing with fopen().
3. Call fputcsv() once per row.
4. Close the file with fclose().

Basic Example: Writing a CSV File

<?php

$data = [
    ['Name', 'Surname', 'Age', 'Gender'], // header row
    ['John', 'Doe', '30', 'Male'],
    ['Jane', 'Doe', '25', 'Female'],
    ['Bob', 'Smith', '40', 'Male'],
];

$file = fopen('people.csv', 'w');

foreach ($data as $row) {
    fputcsv($file, $row);
}

fclose($file);

// Show what was written:
echo file_get_contents('people.csv');

Output:

Name,Surname,Age,Gender
John,Doe,30,Male
Jane,Doe,25,Female
Bob,Smith,40,Male

The first array is written as a header row, then each subsequent array becomes one data line.

Automatic Quoting and Escaping

You don't quote fields yourself — fputcsv() decides when quoting is required. A field is enclosed only if it contains the delimiter, a line break, or the enclosure character.

<?php

$file = fopen('php://output', 'w'); // write straight to the browser/CLI

fputcsv($file, ['Plain', 'Has, comma', 'Has "quotes"', "Two\nlines"]);

fclose($file);

Output:

Plain,"Has, comma","Has ""quotes""","Two
lines"

Notice that Plain is left as-is, the comma-containing field is wrapped in quotes, the embedded double quotes are doubled (""), and the value with a newline is enclosed so the line break survives. The php://output stream is handy for testing or for streaming a download without a temporary file.

Custom Delimiter and Enclosure

To produce a tab-separated or semicolon-separated file, pass the $separator argument. Many European locales open semicolon-delimited files more cleanly in Excel.

<?php

$file = fopen('php://output', 'w');

// Semicolon delimiter
fputcsv($file, ['John', 'Doe', '30'], ';');

// Tab delimiter
fputcsv($file, ['Jane', 'Doe', '25'], "\t");

fclose($file);

Output:

John;Doe;30
Jane	Doe	25

Common Gotchas

• Trailing newline. fputcsv() always appends a line ending, so the file ends with a blank line. When you later read it with fgetcsv() this is harmless, but it can surprise byte-exact comparisons.
• UTF-8 in Excel. Excel needs a UTF-8 BOM to render accented characters correctly. Write one before the first row: fwrite($file, "\xEF\xBB\xBF");. See fwrite().
• The $escape parameter. The legacy backslash escaping can corrupt fields that legitimately contain \. Pass escape: "" (PHP 7.4+) for clean RFC 4180 output; this also matches PHP 9's new default.
• Always check the return value. fputcsv() returns false on failure (for example, a disk-full or read-only stream). Wrap writes in error handling for production exports.
• Convenience alternative. To dump an entire string to a file in one call, see file_put_contents(); use fputcsv() when you need proper CSV escaping per row.

Reading the File Back

The natural counterpart of fputcsv() is fgetcsv(), which parses one CSV line back into an array:

<?php

$file = fopen('people.csv', 'r');

while (($row = fgetcsv($file)) !== false) {
    echo implode(' | ', $row), PHP_EOL;
}

fclose($file);

If you have a CSV string already in memory rather than a file, use str_getcsv() instead.

Conclusion

fputcsv() is the idiomatic way to export array data to CSV in PHP: it handles delimiter quoting and quote escaping automatically, supports custom separators, and pairs naturally with fopen() and fclose(). For portable output, pass escape: "", and add a UTF-8 BOM when the file is destined for Excel. To read the data back, reach for fgetcsv().

Practice