Since the 2007 version, Excel saves spreadsheets in XLSX format. However, versions of the application prior to that year are only compatible with the XLS format. If we compare them, XLSX tables are smaller than their XLS equivalents with the same content. It is always possible to open old XLS files with newer versions of Excel, but it should not be done the other way around as there may be formatting problems. In these cases, it is better to convert the XLSX file to XLS with one of the two quick and easy methods that we propose..
If you have installed a spreadsheet program compatible spreadsheet XLSX files (ie, any version of Excel 2007), the easiest way to convert XLSX to XLS is to use the function ? Save as ? in this way:
If you don't have an updated version of Excel, you can also use a converter. Many of these tools are available online for free . You do not need to download and install any software, instead the files are converted directly on the provider's website . Usually, on the web, the option to? Upload file? or? Select file ?. Clicking on it opens the explorer, where you can choose the file you want to convert and load it with the "Open" button. After converting the file to XLS format with the converter, you can download it from the website and save it on your hard drive. There are many programs to convert XLSX files to XLS. In the following table, we detail the characteristics of three applications.
Of course, you can also convert the files in the old XLS format to the new XLSX format . In this way, opening XLXS files will no longer be a problem for you. In any case, never change the file extension by hand, as you could lose important data: instead, we recommend using only one of the two ways to convert XLSX to XLS described above..