This page contains information on the XLS file extension (Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet), a popular document file format
File extension | .xls |
Category | Document File |
Description | Microsoft Excel is a commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Pre-2007 versions of Excel use XLS as the primary format for saving files. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications. It has been a very widely applied spreadsheet for these platforms, especially since version 5 in 1993, and it has almost completely replaced Lotus 1-2-3 as the industry standard for spreadsheets. Excel forms part of Microsoft Office. The current versions are 2010 for Microsoft Windows and 2011 for Mac OS X. |
Actions | Convert XLS file View other document file formats |
Technical Details | Microsoft Excel up until 2007 version used a proprietary binary file format called Binary Interchange File Format (BIFF) as its primary format. Used as the basis for XLS files it is a persistence format that supports authoring and manipulating content in workbooks and workbook templates. Most versions of Microsoft Excel can read CSV, DBF, SYLK, DIF, and other legacy formats. |
Associated programs | Microsoft Excel Microsoft Excel Viewer OpenOffice |
Developed by | Microsoft |
MIME type | application/vnd.ms-excel |
Useful links | More detail about the XLS format How to open an XLS file without Microsoft Excel Microsoft Office binary file format specifications Convert XLS file |
Convert XLS file
Using Zamzar it is possible to convert XLS files to a variety of other formats
- xls to bmp (Windows bitmap)
- xls to csv (Comma Separated Values)
- xls to gif (Compuserve graphics interchange)
- xls to html (Hypertext Markup Language)
- xls to html4 (Hypertext Markup Language)
- xls to html5 (Hypertext Markup Language)
- xls to jpg (JPEG compliant image)
- xls to mdb (Microsoft Access Database)
- xls to numbers (Apple iWork Numbers Spreadsheet)
- xls to numbers09 (Apple iWork '09 Numbers Spreadsheet)
- xls to ods (OpenDocument spreadsheet)
- xls to pdf (Portable Document Format)
- xls to png (Portable Network Graphic)
- xls to rtf (Rich Text Format)
- xls to tiff (Tagged image file format)
- xls to txt (Text Document)
- xls to xlsx (Microsoft Excel 2007 Spreadsheet)
- xls to xml (Extensible Markup Language)
