XLS to XLSX
How to use
Upgrades old Excel 97–2003 .xls files to modern .xlsx or CSV. Drop the .xls file, choose the sheets and format, and download.
Step 1 of 4: Upload
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Step 1 of 4 · Upload
- 1Upload
- 2Options
- 3Convert
- 4Download
- Importing an old ERP or accounting export into a modern tool
- Getting a legacy government or bank .xls into Google Sheets cleanly
- Preparing old workbooks for Python, R or database imports
- Modernising an archive of .xls files
Free and private. Everything runs on your own device, with no account and no uploads.
The .xls format is Excel 97–2003's binary workbook, and it is still everywhere: exports from old accounting and ERP systems, government downloads, email attachments from 2005. Modern tools increasingly refuse it: Google Sheets imports it grudgingly, many web apps and Python scripts want .xlsx, and .xls has a 65,536-row limit. This converter reads the legacy file and writes a modern XLSX (or CSV) with every sheet, value and date intact.
Sheet names, cell values, text, numbers, dates and the results of formulas. Formatting, macros, charts and the formulas themselves are not carried over.
If you have Excel, "Save As .xlsx" works too. This is for when you do not, or need .xlsx for a web app, script or system that rejects the old format.
No. Remove the password in Excel or LibreOffice first.
No, and that is usually safer: legacy VBA macros are a common way malware spreads. Keep the original if you need them.
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Add the .xls file
Drop one or more Excel 97–2003 workbooks.
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Choose sheets
Keep every sheet, or only the first.
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Pick XLSX or CSV
XLSX for Excel users; CSV for imports into other systems.
- 4
Convert and download
The workbook is rebuilt in the modern format.
- ·Check that dates came across as dates: they are converted from Excel's internal serial numbers
- ·Choose CSV if the data is going straight into another program
- ·Keep the original .xls if it contains macros or formatting you rely on