How to use
- Drop an Excel file (.xlsx) onto the box at the top, or click it to choose one. The old .xls format has to be saved again as .xlsx in Excel before it can be opened.
- Check "Things that may differ from the original" first. Formulas whose results were not saved, charts, pictures and conditional formatting are listed there.
- Choose the paper size (A4, A3, Letter) and the orientation (portrait or landscape). With "If the table is wider than the paper, shrink it to fit one page width" turned on, the table is scaled down to the paper width instead of being cut off.
- If the workbook has several sheets, click the sheets you want to convert. Only the sheets that are pressed go into the PDF, and each one starts on a new page. Turn off "Show cell gridlines" if you do not need the lines.
- Check the preview, click "Save as PDF", and choose "Save as PDF" as the destination in the print dialog. It looks cleaner with "Headers and footers" turned off.
About Excel to PDF
The most common complaint when turning an Excel table into a PDF is that the table is cut off and scattered over several pages. Unless you set up the print settings yourself, columns spill onto the next page and the table is hard to take in at a glance. This converter lets you choose paper and orientation and automatically shrinks a wide table to one page width, so columns are not split in the middle. The file is read only in your browser, so there is no upload wait, and you do not have to send a sensitive table, such as payroll or transactions, to a server.
It interprets Excel's number and date formats itself and reproduces them as they looked on screen: thousands separators, decimal places, percentages, currency symbols, dates such as yyyy-mm-dd, times, and negative numbers shown in parentheses. Character styling, background colors, borders, merged cells, column widths, row heights and hidden rows and columns are carried over too. Charts, pictures, conditional formatting (color bars and icons) and formulas whose results were not saved cannot be carried over. When any are found, you are told how many before you convert.
In a workbook with several sheets you can pick only the sheets you need, and hidden sheets are left out automatically. Formulas show the results Excel saved in the file. Files made by other programs sometimes have no saved results, and then the cells look empty; opening and saving the file once in Excel fixes that. The PDF is saved with your browser's print feature, so text can be selected and searched, but if a font is missing on your device a similar font is used.
Frequently asked questions
Where does my Excel file go?
Nowhere. Your browser only reads the file, and the PDF is made in the same place.
What happens if the table is wider than the paper?
With "shrink to fit one page width" turned on, the whole table is scaled down to the paper width. The scale is shown in "Things that may differ from the original". If it gets too small to read, choose A3 paper, or hide the columns you do not need and upload the file again.
The formula cells are empty.
The result Excel calculated has to be saved in the file for us to show it. Files made or edited with other programs sometimes have no results. Open the file in Excel, save it and upload it again, and the values appear.
Charts and pictures are missing.
Charts, pictures and shapes cannot be carried over. If they are present, you are told how many before the conversion. For a document where the charts matter, save as PDF directly from Excel.
Can I convert only some sheets?
Yes. If there are two or more sheets, a button appears for each sheet name. Click to switch a sheet on or off; only the sheets that are on go into the PDF. Hidden sheets are left out automatically.
Can I use an .xls file?
The old .xls format cannot be read. Open it in Excel, choose "Save As", save it as .xlsx and bring it back here.