Convert XLS to PDF

Convert XLS to PDF when a table from an early Excel has to be shown to other people: the binary 97–2003 file may not open on their machine at all, while a PDF is read by a phone, a browser and a printer.

What happens when you convert XLS to PDF

The workbook lands on pages the way it would land on paper: the same order of sheets, the same column boundaries. From there the file is for looking at, not for counting: formulas do not work in a PDF, and the cells keep the values they had.

Text and numbers stay text and the fonts are embedded in the file. Search works in the finished PDF, and a row can be selected and copied even by a reader with no Excel.

• Table styling carries over: fills, borders, merged cells and column widths.
• The file can no longer be edited cell by cell, which is usually the point when sending it.
• Page breaks follow the print settings of the workbook, so check the print area and scale before converting.

If the recipient needs the data rather than a picture of the table, use the XLS to CSV converter. A workbook from a modern Excel is prepared by the XLSX to PDF converter.

How to convert

1. Upload your XLS file to this page.
2. Check that the target format is PDF.
3. Start the conversion and wait for the finished file.
4. Download the PDF and page through it before sending.

When an old workbook goes out as PDF

• Attach an estimate from the archive without making anyone hunt for an XLS reader.
• File a report where only PDF is accepted.
• Print a table on someone else's computer that has no office suite.
• Fix the figures as of a date, since nobody edits them by an accidental click in a PDF.
• Publish a price list on a site as one file.

Frequently asked questions

Can text be searched in the finished PDF?

Yes. The table does not become a picture: text and numbers stay text, and the fonts sit inside the file.

Are formulas preserved?

No, a PDF has no formulas. The pages keep the values the workbook was showing.

How is this different from converting XLSX?

The result is the same and the source is not: XLS came from Excel versions before 2007. For newer workbooks open the XLSX to PDF converter.