diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ca24d6f0e5..552e0869b2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org).
 ### Added
 
 - Improved the ARABIC function to also hande short-hand roman numerals
+- Option for CSV files to have varying numbers of columns for each individual row
 
 ### Fixed
 
diff --git a/docs/topics/reading-and-writing-to-file.md b/docs/topics/reading-and-writing-to-file.md
index 3b6a037cdc..6d7f561056 100644
--- a/docs/topics/reading-and-writing-to-file.md
+++ b/docs/topics/reading-and-writing-to-file.md
@@ -544,6 +544,18 @@ $writer->setUseBOM(true);
 $writer->save("05featuredemo.csv");
 ```
 
+#### Writing CSV files with varying numbers of columns
+
+A CSV file can have a different number of columns in each row. This
+differs from the default behavior when saving as a .csv in Excel, but
+can be enabled in PhpSpreadsheet by using the following code:
+
+``` php
+$writer = new \PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Csv($spreadsheet);
+$writer->setVariableColumns(true);
+$writer->save("05featuredemo.csv");
+```
+
 #### Decimal and thousands separators
 
 If the worksheet you are exporting contains numbers with decimal or
diff --git a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Writer/Csv.php b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Writer/Csv.php
index 1166bd25b1..18c2590382 100644
--- a/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Writer/Csv.php
+++ b/src/PhpSpreadsheet/Writer/Csv.php
@@ -64,6 +64,15 @@ class Csv extends BaseWriter
      */
     private $excelCompatibility = false;
 
+    /**
+     * Whether number of columns should be allowed to vary
+     * between rows, or use a fixed range based on the max
+     * column overall.
+     *
+     * @var bool
+     */
+    private $variableColumns = false;
+
     /**
      * Create a new CSV.
      *
@@ -119,6 +128,9 @@ public function save($pFilename)
 
         // Write rows to file
         for ($row = 1; $row <= $maxRow; ++$row) {
+            if ($this->variableColumns) {
+                $maxCol = $sheet->getHighestDataColumn($row);
+            }
             // Convert the row to an array...
             $cellsArray = $sheet->rangeToArray('A' . $row . ':' . $maxCol . $row, '', $this->preCalculateFormulas);
             // ... and write to the file
@@ -280,6 +292,34 @@ public function setExcelCompatibility($pValue)
         return $this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get whether number of columns should be allowed to vary
+     * between rows, or use a fixed range based on the max
+     * column overall.
+     *
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function getVariableColumns()
+    {
+        return $this->variableColumns;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Set whether number of columns should be allowed to vary
+     * between rows, or use a fixed range based on the max
+     * column overall.
+     *
+     * @param bool $pValue Set the writer to allow variable column counts
+     *
+     * @return $this
+     */
+    public function setVariableColumns($pValue)
+    {
+        $this->variableColumns = $pValue;
+
+        return  $this;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Get sheet index.
      *
diff --git a/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Writer/Csv/VariableColumnsTest.php b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Writer/Csv/VariableColumnsTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d852c91104
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/PhpSpreadsheetTests/Writer/Csv/VariableColumnsTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheetTests\Writer\Csv;
+
+use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\IOFactory;
+use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Shared\File;
+use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Spreadsheet;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+
+class VariableColumnsTest extends TestCase
+{
+    public function testVariableColumns()
+    {
+        $spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();
+        $spreadsheet->setActiveSheetIndex(0);
+        $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('A1', 'A1');
+        $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('B1', 'B1');
+        $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('A2', 'A2');
+        $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('B2', 'B2');
+        $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('C2', 'C2');
+        $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->setCellValue('A3', 'A3');
+
+        $filename = tempnam(File::sysGetTempDir(), 'phpspreadsheet-test');
+        $writer = IOFactory::createWriter($spreadsheet, 'Csv');
+        $writer->setVariableColumns(true);
+        $writer->save($filename);
+
+        $contents = file_get_contents($filename);
+
+        $rows = explode(PHP_EOL, $contents);
+
+        $this->assertEquals('"A1","B1"', $rows[0]);
+        $this->assertEquals('"A2","B2","C2"', $rows[1]);
+        $this->assertEquals('"A3"', $rows[2]);
+    }
+}