Free online ODS to XLS converter

Older Microsoft Excel installations, legacy business systems, and import tools may require the .xls format instead of .ods. Converting the workbook creates a file those programs can open and edit, but some spreadsheet features may need manual checking.

What the ODS format is

ODS means OpenDocument Spreadsheet. It is an open, XML-based spreadsheet format standardized by OASIS and commonly used by LibreOffice Calc, Apache OpenOffice Calc, and other OpenDocument-compatible software. An .ods file can contain worksheets, formulas, charts, styles, named ranges, data validation, and other spreadsheet elements.

Microsoft Excel opens many ODS files, but it may interpret formulas, formatting, charts, macros, and embedded objects differently from LibreOffice or OpenOffice.

What the XLS format is

XLS is Microsoft Excel's legacy binary workbook format, associated primarily with Excel 97–2003. Its main advantage is compatibility with older Excel versions and software that accepts only the .xls extension. Current Excel versions can open and edit XLS files, although they may display a compatibility warning.

Each XLS worksheet supports a maximum of 65,536 rows and 256 columns. A workbook that exceeds either limit cannot be represented completely in XLS. XLS is not automatically smaller than ODS; the resulting size depends on the workbook contents and compression.

How to convert ODS to XLS

Using LibreOffice Calc

1. Open the .ods file in LibreOffice Calc.
2. Choose File → Save As.
3. Select Excel 97–2003 (*.xls) as the file type.
4. Choose a destination, enter a filename ending in .xls, and select Save.
5. When Calc warns that some formatting or content may not be supported, choose Use Excel 97–2003 Format.
6. Open the new XLS file in Excel or Calc and check formulas, values, formatting, charts, print areas, and page breaks.

LibreOffice also supports unattended conversion from a terminal:

libreoffice --headless --convert-to xls --outdir output input.ods

The command writes the converted file to output. Create a separate output directory and confirm the generated filename before replacing an existing workbook.

Using Microsoft Excel

1. Open the ODS file in Excel.
2. Choose File → Save As or File → Save a Copy.
3. Set the file type to Excel 97-2003 Workbook (*.xls).
4. Save the file and accept the compatibility warning.
5. Close and reopen the XLS file, then verify the workbook's calculations and layout.

Excel's ODS import can produce different results from LibreOffice's export, so use the application that best reproduces the original workbook when the file contains complex formatting or formulas.

Using the 101convert.com converter

You can convert the file for free on 101convert.com without installing software. Upload the ODS file, select XLS as the output format, start the conversion, and download the result. Do not upload confidential spreadsheets unless the service's current privacy, security, and retention terms are acceptable for the data.

Quality and compatibility limits

ODS and XLS use different file structures and feature sets, so conversion is not guaranteed to be lossless. Check formulas using ODS-specific functions, named ranges, conditional formatting, data validation, pivot tables, charts, external links, embedded objects, print settings, and page breaks.

Newer spreadsheet features, including dynamic arrays, some chart types, threaded comments, and advanced formatting, may be simplified or discarded because XLS cannot store them. Macros require separate verification: LibreOffice Basic macros are not directly compatible with Excel VBA, and macros or other executable content may be removed or altered during export.

If the workbook contains more than 65,536 rows or 256 columns, use .xlsx instead or divide the data before exporting. Keep the original ODS file and compare important formulas and calculated results after conversion.