Free online XLSX to DBF converter

What the XLSX format is

.xlsx is the XML-based workbook format used by Microsoft Excel and supported by LibreOffice Calc, Google Sheets export, and most modern spreadsheet applications. An XLSX workbook can contain multiple worksheets, formulas, charts, formatting, merged cells, hyperlinks, and typed values, so it supports calculation and presentation as well as tabular data.

XLSX files commonly come from Excel users, business systems, survey tools, and spreadsheet-based reporting workflows.

What the DBF format is

.dbf is the dBase table format used by dBase, FoxPro, some accounting systems, and many older database and GIS applications. A DBF file contains one flat table: a field-definition header followed by records. It does not contain workbook sheets, formulas, charts, cell formatting, or other Excel features.

DBF remains useful when the receiving program specifically requires dBase data or a GIS attribute table must be supplied in a legacy format. Its compact, self-contained structure is easy for older software to read, but its field types, field names, text widths, and character encodings are restrictive.

Convert with LibreOffice Calc

1. Open the XLSX workbook in LibreOffice Calc.
2. Select the worksheet containing the table to export. DBF represents one table, so export each worksheet separately when multiple sheets are needed.
3. Make the first row the field-name row. Remove merged cells, blank rows, totals, notes, and unrelated columns.
4. Use unique, short field names. A maximum of 10 characters, using letters, numbers, and underscores, is the safest choice for legacy DBF readers; confirm the receiving application’s exact rule.
5. Check data that must remain exact. Format postal codes, account numbers, and other identifiers as text when leading zeros or fixed spelling matter.
6. Choose File → Save As, select dBase (.dbf) as the file type, enter the output filename, and save.
7. When Calc displays a format warning, choose Use dBase Format. If an encoding option is offered, select the code page required by the destination program. Use UTF-8 only when that program explicitly supports it.
8. Open the DBF in the destination application and check the field names, row count, dates, decimal values, identifiers, and non-ASCII characters.

Convert without installing software

You can convert the file for free on 101convert.com: upload the XLSX file, choose DBF as the output format, start the conversion, and download the result. Inspect the downloaded file in the target program, especially if the workbook contains multiple worksheets or non-Latin text. Do not upload confidential, regulated, or proprietary spreadsheets unless the service’s data-handling terms satisfy your requirements.

Data and compatibility limitations

• Only one worksheet becomes one DBF table. Workbook structure and relationships between sheets are not transferred.
• Formulas are generally exported as calculated or displayed values, not editable formulas. Recalculate the workbook before export if formula results depend on changed inputs.
• DBF commonly supports character, numeric, logical, and date fields, with some variants also supporting memo fields. Excel datetimes, durations, errors, arrays, rich text, and complex formulas may be simplified, changed, or rejected.
• Traditional DBF character fields commonly allow up to 254 bytes. Long text can be truncated, and multibyte encodings reduce the number of characters that fit within a byte limit.
• Legacy DBF field names are commonly limited to 10 characters. Newer DBF variants and applications may apply different limits, so use the receiving program’s specification.
• DBF has no standard timezone-aware datetime field. Convert timestamps to a supported date or text representation when time-zone information must be retained.
• Encoding mismatches can corrupt accented and non-Latin characters. Use the same code page when writing and importing the file; older applications may require Windows-1252 or another regional encoding rather than UTF-8.
• Review numeric precision after export. DBF field definitions may store fewer decimal places than the spreadsheet, and numeric treatment can remove leading zeros from identifiers.
• Blank cells, null values, boolean values, and invalid dates may be represented differently by different DBF writers and readers. Test representative records in the actual destination application.