I agree `column` is imperfect, but empty cells at least don't seem to be a problem. $ echo -e 'foo,bar,quux\n1,,3' | column -t -s, foo bar quux 1

I agree `column` is imperfect, but empty cells at least don't seem to be a problem. $ echo -e 'foo,bar,quux\n1,,3' | column -t -s, foo bar quux 1 3 The man page says: > Version 2.23 changed the -s option to be non-greedy Elsewhere on an ancient Ubuntu I have lying around, `-n` did the same: -n By default, the column command will merge multiple adjacent delimiters into a single delimiter when using the -t option; this option disables that behavior. This option is a Debian GNU/Linux extension.