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 JSON converter, without the upload.
Turn XLS spreadsheets into JSON. 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
- JSON: one object per row
How to convert XLS to JSON
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.
JSON is already chosen
Press Convert. There is nothing else to set. The work happens in this tab.
Download
Save the JSON, or download everything as one ZIP if you converted several files.
Why ToAny
Private by construction
The XLS to JSON 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 JSON: what to expect
XLS is limited to 65,536 rows and is flagged as a legacy format by modern Excel. JSON is what APIs and most programming languages read natively. XLS is at home in compatibility with very old copies of Excel; JSON is the usual choice for APIs and data exchanged between programs.
The first row is read as column names, and every row after it becomes one object, keyed by those names. A header such as address.city is turned back into a nested address with a city. A workbook with a single sheet becomes a plain list; one with several sheets becomes an object keyed by sheet name. Formulas come across as the values they last calculated, and formatting such as colours and column widths is not carried over.
XLS vs JSON
JSON
JSON data
JSON represents data as nested objects and lists in plain text. It is the default language of web APIs. Unlike a spreadsheet it can be nested to any depth, which is also why turning it into rows and columns takes a decision about how to flatten it.
Opens in Any text editor, every programming language, browser developer tools
JSON converter| XLSExcel 97–2003 workbook | JSONJSON data | |
|---|---|---|
| Stands for | Excel 97–2003 Workbook | JavaScript Object Notation |
| Type | Spreadsheet workbook (binary) | Structured data (text) |
| Compression | None | None |
| Introduced | 1997, by Microsoft | 2001, by Douglas Crockford |
| Opens in | Excel and LibreOffice Calc | Any text editor, every programming language, browser developer tools |
| Best for | Compatibility with very old copies of Excel | APIs and data exchanged between programs |
| File extension | .xls | .json |
Questions
Are my spreadsheets uploaded anywhere?
No. The XLS to JSON 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 JSON?
The values are kept. Anything JSON 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 JSON 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 JSON. 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.