Convert XLS to CSV
Data leaves an XLS file as CSV: the first sheet, calculated values, a file that imports and online sheets accept.
Convert XLS to CSV when the table arrived in the binary format of Excel 97–2003: online editors open such files only half the time, and an import into accounting software often refuses them outright.
What happens when you convert XLS to CSV
An old XLS keeps the workbook as one binary block, with sheets, styling, formulas and print settings mixed together, and getting data out of it without Excel is hard work. CSV keeps rows and values only, but opens in anything from an online spreadsheet to a two-line script.
The first sheet of the workbook goes into the file. Data from the other sheets is exported separately: move the sheet you need to the front and convert the workbook again.
- A formula is written out as its result, the number you saw in the cell.
- Styling, merged cells and print settings are lost, and the values stay in their rows and columns.
- Accented and non-Latin text reads correctly in Excel and Google Sheets with no encoding to choose.
- The old format's ceiling of 65,536 rows per sheet no longer applies to the result: a CSV holds as many rows as you put in it.
A workbook saved by a modern Excel belongs on the neighbouring page, the XLSX to CSV converter. To build an export back into a workbook with sheets and formulas, use the CSV to XLSX converter.
How to convert
- Upload your XLS file to this page.
- Check that the target format is CSV.
- Start the conversion and wait for the finished file.
- Download the CSV and open it in a spreadsheet editor or feed it to an import.
Where XLS files still come from
- An export from a banking client or accounting package that has not changed its format since the 2000s.
- An archive of reports collected before the move to a newer Excel.
- A supplier price list that has arrived in the same shape for ten years.
- An export from factory or warehouse software with a short list of formats.
- A file from a contractor whose editor writes XLS and nothing else.
Frequently asked questions
How does XLS differ from XLSX here?
The result is the same and the source is not: XLS came from Excel versions before 2007 and is a binary file, while XLSX is built inside as an archive of markup. For newer workbooks open the XLSX to CSV converter.
Why did only one sheet end up in the CSV?
A CSV holds one table and has no tabs. The first sheet is exported, and the rest are converted one at a time.
Are formulas preserved?
No, the cell holds the result instead of the formula. You set the calculation up again in whatever editor opens the export.
More about the formats
What the format is, how to open it and how it differs from the others.