CSV to Internet Shortcuts

URL column

Name column

AddressesWeb addresses only (http/https)

On this page, your CSV is read in your browser. It is not uploaded, and no address is opened.

Have .url files? Internet Shortcuts to CSV

Nothing to download yet. Paste or drop a CSV with a URL column.

How to Turn a CSV into .url Shortcuts

Export the sheet as CSV with a column of web addresses and, ideally, a column of names

Headers such as url, link or href, and name or title, are found automatically.
Drop the .csv file on the input panel, or paste the rows
Check the URL column and Name column the page picked, and change them if needed
Download the ZIP of .url files, unzip it into the folder or desktop where the shortcuts belong, and double-click any of them to open the site

Common Use Cases

Putting a team's tools and dashboards on a shared Windows desktop or a network drive folder

Restoring a folder of shortcuts after editing their list in Excel or Google Sheets

Setting up the same links on several lab, classroom or kiosk PCs from one sheet

Turning a list of reading or reference links into files you can drag into any folder

Why Use CSV to Internet Shortcuts?

A list of links usually lives in a spreadsheet, but a shared desktop, a network folder or a kiosk PC needs them as shortcuts people can double-click. Windows stores a web shortcut as a .url file, a two-line text file, and making them one at a time in Notepad, or writing a PowerShell loop, is slow for more than a handful. This page reads the CSV, finds the URL and name columns by their headers, and writes one Internet Shortcut per row, named after the row and zipped together. It is the reverse of Internet Shortcuts to CSV, so a folder of shortcuts can go to a sheet, be edited, and come back.

A Windows Internet Shortcut is a .url file: an INI-style text file with an [InternetShortcut] section and a URL= line. Explorer opens the address in the default browser on a double-click. This page writes exactly that, with the CRLF line endings Windows uses, one file per CSV row.

The URL column is found by its header (url, link, href, address or website) and the name column by name, title or label; the pickers override either. The delimiter is detected, so comma, semicolon, tab and pipe files all read. Rows with no address, with text that is not an address, or with a non-web address while Web addresses only is on are listed by row number with the reason, and every other row still converts. One shortcut downloads on its own; several download as internet-shortcuts.zip.

The addresses are written as they appear in the sheet and never requested, so an internal or dead link converts like any other. The page writes .url Internet Shortcuts only, not .lnk shortcuts to programs or folders. To go the other way, from .url files to a sheet, use Internet Shortcuts to CSV.

How it compares

The usual alternatives are a PowerShell or VBScript loop that writes each .url file, or Notepad, one shortcut at a time. Both work, but need a Windows machine and some scripting. This page finds the columns for you, makes every file name valid on Windows and macOS, reports the rows it could not use, and builds the ZIP in the tab.

Tips for Building Shortcuts from a CSV

Each file is named after the name column. Characters Windows does not allow in a file name, such as / : * ? " < > |, become an underscore, and a name used twice gets " (2)" so the ZIP never overwrites a shortcut.
A row with no name is named after its site, such as wiki.example.com.url.
Web addresses only is on by default, so file:, ftp: and mailto: rows are skipped with a reason. Turn it off to write those shortcuts too.
A bare domain such as example.com gains https:// so the shortcut opens; the notes say how many did.
A pasted list of links with no header row works too: the first row is read as data.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I create .url shortcuts from a list of links?

Put the links in a CSV with a url column and a name column, drop it on this page and download the ZIP. Each row becomes a Windows .url Internet Shortcut named after the row, holding [InternetShortcut] and URL= lines, which opens the address in the default browser.

What columns does the CSV need?

Only a column of addresses. A header named url, link, href, address or website is found automatically, and a name, title or label column names the files. Pick the columns yourself when the headers are different, or paste a plain list of links with no header at all.

What happens to rows without a valid URL?

They are skipped and listed by row number with the reason: no address, text that is not an address, or a non-web address such as file: while Web addresses only is on. Every other row still becomes a shortcut.

How are the shortcut files named?

After the name column, with characters Windows does not allow in file names replaced by an underscore. A row with no name is named after its site, and a name that repeats gets " (2)", " (3)" and so on, so no shortcut overwrites another in the ZIP.

How do I make Mac shortcuts instead?

Download the .url files here, then convert them with URL to Webloc. The Mac format for a web shortcut is .webloc, a property list Finder opens with a double-click.

Can it make .lnk shortcuts?

No. A .lnk is a binary Windows shortcut to a program, file or folder. This page writes .url Internet Shortcuts, which point to addresses.

Does the page open the links?

No. Addresses are copied from the CSV as text and never requested, so a link that no longer works still becomes a shortcut and no site learns about your list.

Is my CSV uploaded?

Not on this page. The CSV is read and the .url files and the ZIP are built by JavaScript in your browser tab. The REST API and MCP tool are a separate path: a call sends the input you include to FindUtils over HTTPS, where it is processed and the result returned. FindUtils does not store that input, and logs the request without its content.

How do I turn .url files back into a CSV?

Use Internet Shortcuts to CSV, the reverse of this page. It reads .url files, or a ZIP of them, and writes a CSV of names and URLs.

Run it from code

$ curl -X POST \
  api.findutils.com/api/tools/csv-to-internet-shortcuts/execute \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"input":"name,url\nTeam Wiki,https://wiki.example.com/team\nExpense Reports,https://expenses.example.com/reports\n"}'

$ claude mcp add findutils \
  --transport http https://mcp.findutils.com/ \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
# then call findutils:csv_to_internet_shortcuts

Running a tool needs an API key. Keys are not for sale yet: ask for early access. About API keys

The REST API and the MCP tool are a separate path from this page: a call sends the input you include to FindUtils over HTTPS, where it is processed and the result returned. FindUtils does not store that input, and logs the request without its content.

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