Convert XLS to ODS Excel ↔ OpenDocument Spreadsheet Free Online Secure
Every sheet, in its order, with its values, its formulas and its dates. Nothing is redrawn and nothing is recalculated.
Convert your file
Drop an .xls or .xlsx file here, or choose one.
Your file never leaves this device. Everything runs in your browser.
Nothing uploaded
Where these formats come from
Both of these formats are the same thing underneath: a zip archive full of XML files describing the text, the styles and the pictures. OpenDocument came first, from the OpenOffice project, and became ISO 26300 in 2006. Microsoft's Office Open XML followed and became ISO 29500 in 2008, after a standardisation fight so bitter that national bodies changed their votes under public argument. The outcome is that the world now has two open, documented, interchangeable office formats rather than one proprietary one — which is precisely why converting between them is possible at all, and why it mostly works.
Where you meet them
The conversion is needed whenever two people use different software on the same document: a colleague who works in LibreOffice sending a file to one who works in Microsoft Office, a public body that accepts only ODF, a client who insists on .docx. It also matters for the long term — an archive kept in an open format can still be opened in twenty years, whoever is still in business.
Questions people ask
Will my formatting survive the conversion?
Ordinary formatting — headings, bold, lists, tables, images, page breaks — comes through faithfully, because both formats describe the same things in much the same way. What travels badly is everything at the edges: complex nested tables, text boxes anchored to odd positions, uncommon numbering schemes, and anything built on a feature only one of the two has. Open the result and look at the places where you did something clever; that is where the differences will be, if anywhere.
What happens to my macros?
They do not come across. Macros are program code written for one particular office suite, and the other suite does not run that language — a Word VBA macro means nothing to LibreOffice Basic and the other way round. The conversion carries the document and discards the code. If a file's whole purpose is its automation, it has to be rewritten rather than converted, and that is a programming job rather than a file job.
Does the file lose quality?
It depends on what the two formats can hold. Converting between formats that store the same thing — a PNG to a BMP, a WAV to a FLAC — loses nothing. Converting into a format that throws information away to save space, such as JPEG or MP3, loses a little every time, and converting back does not bring it back. Where a choice exists, this page errs towards keeping the original quality rather than making the smallest file.
Is my file uploaded anywhere?
No. The conversion happens inside your browser, on your own machine; the file never leaves it and there is no server here that could receive it. That is why a large file is limited by your own memory rather than by an upload, and why nothing you convert can appear in anybody's logs — including ours. The audio and video tools do fetch their conversion engine from this site the first time you use them, some thirty megabytes once; after that the work still happens entirely on your machine.
Why people convert XLS to ODS
XLS is the Excel spreadsheet format that generations of offices, accountants and software have relied on. ODS is the open spreadsheet format used by LibreOffice Calc and other open office suites, built on a published standard that no single company controls. People convert XLS to ODS when they move to free software, when a school or public body asks for open formats, when a colleague uses Calc and cannot open the Excel file comfortably, or when they simply want to keep their data in a format with a guaranteed future. The task is common and the intention is always the same: keep the workbook, change the container.
One thing sets this direction apart: formulas travel. Every sheet comes across in its order with its values, its formulas and its dates, and nothing is recalculated on the way. That makes the ODS a working workbook, not just a snapshot of results. The limits are on the appearance side: number formats and cell colours are not carried over, and neither are charts or merged cells. Those limits are explained below, along with how to work around them.
This page converts XLS to ODS in your browser. Your spreadsheet is not uploaded to a server, which matters for accounts, payroll and customer lists. Below you will find what carries across, what does not, and how to check the result before you rely on it.
What carries across
Every sheet, in its order
When you convert XLS to ODS here, every sheet comes across, in the same order, under the same name. A workbook with sheets called Sales, Costs and Summary produces an ODS with those three sheets in that order. Nothing is merged, dropped or rearranged.
Values, formulas and dates
Cell values come across exactly. Formulas come across too, as formulas, so the ODS can still recalculate when an input changes. Dates stay dates. Nothing is redrawn and nothing is recalculated during the conversion: the cells are read and written again, so what was in a cell is what is in the cell afterwards.
Why "nothing is recalculated" is good news
A conversion that recalculated as it went might change figures, for instance if two programs round differently or evaluate a function slightly differently. By copying values and formulas as they are, this conversion keeps your numbers exactly as the original showed them. If you want fresh calculations, you can trigger them in Calc yourself after opening the file.
What does not carry across
Number formats
Number formats are not carried over, so a formatted number arrives plain. A cell that showed 1,250.50 with a currency symbol may show 1250.5 in the ODS. A percentage shown as 26% may appear as 0.26. The values are right; the way they are dressed is not. After conversion, you will usually want to re-apply formats to the columns that need them, such as currency, percentage and date.
How to restore formats quickly
Select a column, choose the format from the menu in Calc, and it applies to every cell in the column at once. For a typical workbook with a handful of formatted columns, it takes a minute or two. It is worth doing before you share the file, so that the figures look as a reader expects.
Cell colours
Cell colours are not carried over. Rows highlighted for emphasis, coloured headers and traffic-light shading will arrive plain. If a colour carries meaning, such as red for overdue, add a text column that says so before you convert, or re-apply the colours afterwards.
Charts and merged cells
Charts and merged-cell layout are not carried over either. A chart beside your figures will not appear, and a title merged across several columns will become an ordinary cell. The data behind the chart is all there, so you can rebuild the chart in Calc in a few clicks.
What XLS and ODS are
XLS is the format Excel used before XLSX became the default, and it remains in use wherever older workbooks, templates and systems survive. ODS, short for OpenDocument Spreadsheet, is the format of LibreOffice Calc and OpenOffice, defined by an open standard. Both describe a workbook as a set of sheets, each a grid of cells that hold values, formulas and formatting. They store those things in different ways, so a program has to translate between them.
When you convert XLS to ODS, the translation covers the substance of the workbook: sheets, names, order, values, formulas and dates. It leaves out the dressing, meaning number formats, colours, charts and merged cells. The result is a working workbook in open format, which needs a short tidy-up of its appearance before it is ready for others.
Why the dressing is separate from the substance
A cell's value and a cell's appearance are two different things. A cell can hold 0.26 and display 26%. The value is data; the display is a format applied on top. Conversions that carry data faithfully but leave formats to be reapplied are being cautious: they would rather give you a correct number in plain dress than a number dressed wrongly. After you convert XLS to ODS, a minute of reformatting gives you the right dress.
Formulas that carry across
Because formulas are copied as formulas, your calculation logic survives the conversion. A column of totals still adds its column; a lookup still looks up. This is the major advantage of this direction over the reverse one, where formulas arrive as values. It makes the ODS a genuine continuation of your workbook, not a frozen picture of it.
Two cautions apply. First, functions that exist in Excel but have no direct equivalent in Calc may behave differently or show errors; they are rare in ordinary workbooks, but check any unusual ones. Second, formulas that refer to other files, or to data that sits outside the workbook, may not find their sources in the new location. After you convert XLS to ODS, spot-check the important formulas by comparing their results with the original.
A spot-check routine
Pick three formulas that matter: a total, a lookup and something more complicated. Compare their results in the ODS with the original. If all three match, the rest of the workbook almost certainly does too. If one differs, you have found something to investigate, and it is far better to find it now than after the file has gone to others.
Restoring the look of the workbook
After you convert XLS to ODS, you will probably want to restore the appearance. Start with number formats: apply currency to money columns, percentage to ratios and a date format to dates. Then headers: make them bold or coloured as before. Then column widths, so that numbers display in full. Then, if the original had charts, rebuild them from the data.
Calc's style tools help: you can define a style for headers or totals once and apply it everywhere. If the workbook will be used for years, that one-time effort pays off in consistency. If it is a one-off conversion, a few quick formatting steps are enough.
Charts
Charts do not come across, but their data does. In Calc, select the cells and insert a chart of the same type. A simple chart takes under a minute. If your workbook relies on many elaborate charts, budget a little more time for rebuilding them.
How to convert XLS to ODS here
Add your workbook
Drop the .xls file onto the page or pick it from your device. It is read inside your browser and is not uploaded.
Convert
Press the button. For an ordinary workbook this takes a few seconds.
Download, check and tidy
Download the ODS and open it in LibreOffice Calc or another program that reads the format. Check that every sheet is present, that the formulas give the same results as before and that the dates are right. Then re-apply the number formats you need.
Preparing the workbook for a clean result
Note which formats matter
Before you convert, make a short note of which columns carry currency, percentages or special date formats, so that you know what to restore afterwards.
Put meaning in the cells
Anything that exists only as a colour, a chart or a merged heading will not travel. Add text to carry the meaning.
Save and close first
Make sure the workbook is saved in its final state, so the converter reads the current version.
Questions people ask before converting
Do my formulas still work?
Yes. Formulas come across as formulas, and nothing is recalculated during the conversion.
Why do my numbers look plain?
Number formats are not carried over, so a formatted number arrives plain. Re-apply the format in Calc.
Where did my chart and colours go?
Charts, cell colours and merged-cell layout are not carried over. The data is.
Is my spreadsheet uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser and the file never leaves your device.
Who converts XLS to ODS
People moving to free office software
Those who switch from Excel to LibreOffice bring their workbooks with them, formulas included.
Schools and public bodies
Organisations that require open formats ask for ODS. Converting meets the requirement without retyping.
Archivists and long-term planners
An open standard is a safer home for data that must stay usable for decades.
Common mistakes
Forgetting to restore formats
Plain numbers can mislead. Re-apply currency and percentage formats before sharing.
Relying on colour for meaning
Colours do not travel. Put meaning in the cells.
Deleting the original
Keep the XLS as the record of the original formatting and charts.
Related tools
To go the other way, convert ODS to XLS, remembering that formulas then arrive as values. For a fixed, shareable copy, convert XLS to PDF or convert ODS to PDF. If your data is in a PDF table, PDF to ODS rebuilds it, and for data in other forms, XLSX to JSON and JSON to XLSX help. For text documents, DOCX to ODT does the same job.
When to convert XLS to ODS, and when not to
Converting is right when you want a working workbook in the open format: to carry on in LibreOffice, to meet a requirement for open formats or to archive in a standard no company owns. It is the wrong move when the recipient only needs to read the figures, in which case a PDF is more faithful and needs no tidying. And it is unnecessary if the recipient uses Excel, which is happy with the XLS.
For the common cases, such as budgets, lists, timetables, accounts and everyday calculations, it is quick, private and dependable to convert XLS to ODS in the browser. Your original is never changed, so you can come back and convert XLS to ODS again whenever you like.
Converting several workbooks
If you have many workbooks to move, convert them one at a time and keep the originals in a separate folder. Try one first and run through the spot-check, so that you know what to expect from the rest. When you convert XLS to ODS in bulk, consistency matters more than speed.
Workbooks with many sheets
Every sheet comes across, so a workbook with twenty sheets gives an ODS with twenty sheets. If you need only some, delete the others in a copy of the original before converting. That keeps the file small and avoids carrying over sheets you no longer need.
Large workbooks and slow devices
Everything runs on your own device, so very large workbooks depend on its memory. A few thousand rows is no trouble. A workbook with hundreds of thousands of rows may be slow on an older phone. If it struggles, give the browser a moment and avoid switching to other apps while it works.
Keeping the original as the record
Never delete the XLS after you convert it. It holds the number formats, colours and charts that the ODS does not carry. If someone later asks what a chart looked like or how a column was formatted, the XLS has the answer. Treat it as the archive copy and the ODS as the working copy.
Your spreadsheet stays on your device
The conversion happens locally. Your workbook is read by your own browser, written as an ODS there and handed back. Nothing is uploaded, so there is no copy on a server and no one else who could see the figures. For accounts, payroll and customer data, that is the safe way to convert XLS to ODS.
A worked example
Say your club keeps its accounts in an Excel workbook with sheets for Income, Expenses and Balance, and a new treasurer uses LibreOffice. You drop the XLS here and press the button. You open the ODS: all three sheets are present, the balance formulas still work and the dates are right. The money columns have lost their currency format, so you select them and apply it again, which takes a minute. The treasurer carries on from there.
A simple routine for moving a workbook
Open the original and make a note of the columns with special formats. Save and close it. Convert it here and open the ODS. Spot-check three formulas against the original, then restore the formats, headers and charts you need. Save the ODS under a clear name and keep the XLS as the archive. If the ODS is going to others, also look at it as they will: on a fresh screen, without your own settings.
The whole routine takes ten minutes for a typical workbook, and it leaves you with an open-format workbook that behaves exactly as the original did. If the workbook is small and simple, it takes two. If it is large and elaborate, take the extra time: a spreadsheet that feeds decisions deserves a careful check, whichever direction it travels. You can also link to related guidance on converting documents to PDF if you need to share a read-only copy of the results.
Before you close the page
Check that you downloaded the ODS, that every sheet is present and the formulas work, and that you kept the original XLS.
A closing word
The best results come from thinking of the conversion as moving the substance of a workbook, not copying its dress. The sheets, the values, the formulas and the dates make the journey intact; the formats, colours and charts are put back by hand. Done in that spirit, the process is quick, and it leaves you with a working, open-format workbook that you control and that will stay readable for a very long time.
One more thing to remember
Whenever you convert XLS to ODS, keep in mind that you are moving a working model, not a picture of it. That is good news, because your formulas travel with it, and it is also a reason to check a few of them afterwards. Spend five minutes on the spot-check and the formatting, and the open-format workbook you end up with will be as dependable as the Excel one you started from.
Summary
To convert XLS to ODS here, drop the file and press the button. Every sheet comes across in its order, with its values, formulas and dates, and nothing is recalculated. Number formats and cell colours are not carried over, so a formatted number arrives plain, and charts and merged-cell layout are not carried over either. Nothing leaves your device.