XLS
Excel 97–2003 workbook
XLS is the binary workbook format Excel used until 2007. It is limited to 65,536 rows per sheet and is treated as a legacy format today.
Opens in Excel and LibreOffice Calc
XLS converterXLS to CSV converter, without the upload.
Turn XLS spreadsheets into CSV. It is converted in your browser, so the file never leaves your device.
Drop XLS files here
or choose from your computer paste with Ctrl V
from Photos or Files
Ready · other file types work too0 bytes uploaded, ever
Convert to
- On your device · nothing is uploaded
- No account, no email
- Batch and ZIP download
- Free
- CSV: one file per sheet
How to convert XLS to CSV
Add your XLS spreadsheets
Drop XLS files onto the box above, or click it to choose them. ToAny reads the file's contents to detect the type, so a wrong extension does not matter.
CSV is already chosen
Press Convert. There is nothing else to set. The work happens in this tab.
Download
Save the result. When one file produces several CSV files they come as a single ZIP.
Why ToAny
Private by construction
The XLS to CSV converter is part of this page and runs inside your browser. Your spreadsheets are never sent to ToAny or to anyone else.
No upload, no queue
Nothing has to travel to a server and back, so the conversion starts the moment you press Convert, even on a slow connection.
Free, without an account
No sign-up, no email address and no watermark. Add several files and download them together as a ZIP.
XLS to CSV: what to expect
XLS is limited to 65,536 rows and is flagged as a legacy format by modern Excel. CSV is plain text that every spreadsheet, database and script can read. XLS is at home in compatibility with very old copies of Excel; CSV is the usual choice for moving tabular data between systems.
One XLS can produce several CSV files (one file per sheet); when it does, they are offered together as a ZIP download.
Formulas come across as the values they last calculated, and formatting such as colours and column widths is not carried over.
XLS vs CSV
CSV
CSV spreadsheet
CSV is a table written as text: one row per line, values separated by commas. Every spreadsheet and database can import and export it, but it holds one sheet only and no formatting, formulas or data types.
Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers, databases and any text editor
CSV converter| XLSExcel 97–2003 workbook | CSVCSV spreadsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Stands for | Excel 97–2003 Workbook | Comma-Separated Values |
| Type | Spreadsheet workbook (binary) | Plain-text table |
| Compression | None | None |
| Introduced | 1997, by Microsoft | The 1970s, by no single author (described in RFC 4180) |
| Opens in | Excel and LibreOffice Calc | Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers, databases and any text editor |
| Best for | Compatibility with very old copies of Excel | Moving tabular data between systems |
| File extension | .xls | .csv |
Questions
Are my spreadsheets uploaded anywhere?
No. The XLS to CSV conversion runs inside your browser, on your own phone or computer. The file is not sent to ToAny or to anyone else.
Is anything lost when converting XLS to CSV?
The values are kept. Anything CSV has no way to express, such as formatting, formulas or nesting, is simplified or left out.
Can I convert several XLS files at once?
Yes. Add as many as you like, convert them together and download each result or all of them as one ZIP.
How do I convert XLS to CSV on Windows, Mac, iPhone or Android?
The steps are the same everywhere because ToAny runs in the web browser: open this page in a current version of Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox, add the XLS file, press Convert and save the CSV. There is nothing to install.
Is there a file size limit?
Yes. Spreadsheet files up to 150 MB are accepted; a larger file is refused with a message. Beyond that the limit is your device's memory, since nothing is uploaded; a computer copes with large files better than a phone.