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How to open an XLSX file without Excel

The free options, which of them upload your workbook, and how much of its formulas and formatting each one keeps.

By Shahzad Ali ·

The short answer

An .xlsx file is an Excel workbook, but you do not need Excel to open it. A browser-based viewer, LibreOffice, Google Sheets and Apple Numbers all read it for free. They differ in two ways: whether the file is uploaded, and how much of the formatting and formulas they keep.

In your browser, with nothing uploaded

Drop the file on the Excel viewer. Every sheet opens with its values, formulas, number formats and merged cells, and fonts, colours and fills show for .xlsx and .xlsm files up to 8 MB. You can edit cells and formulas, which recalculate, and download the workbook as .xlsx again. It also opens .xls, .xlsm and .ods files. Password-protected workbooks cannot be opened.

Free desktop apps

Both work offline and keep the file on your computer:

  • LibreOffice Calc (Windows, Mac and Linux) opens and saves .xlsx and keeps formulas and most formatting. It is the closest free equivalent to desktop Excel.
  • Apple Numbers (Mac, iPhone and iPad) opens .xlsx and can export back to the Excel format; some Excel-only features are converted or dropped.

Online suites (the file is uploaded)

Google Sheets opens an .xlsx after you upload it to Google Drive, and Excel for the web does the same with OneDrive. Both need an account, and the workbook is stored on their servers. That is fine for most files, but not for payroll, customer lists or anything you are not allowed to share.

On a phone

Mobile browsers open OpenAnyDoc the same way: tap Choose a file and pick the workbook from Files or your downloads. Microsoft's Excel app and Google Sheets also have phone apps; both work with your account.

Only need the data?

If you only need the numbers in another program, convert the sheet. Excel to CSV turns the first sheet into a UTF-8 CSV that any program reads, and Excel to JSON turns it into a list of objects for code.

Older and related formats

Three other extensions turn up next to .xlsx:

  • .xls is the Excel 97 to 2003 format. The XLS viewer opens it with values, formulas and number formats, without cell styles.
  • .xlsm is a workbook with macros. Viewers open the data; the macros never run outside Excel, and OpenAnyDoc does not keep them when it saves.
  • .ods is the OpenDocument spreadsheet that LibreOffice saves by default. Excel and OpenAnyDoc both open it.

What may look different

Only Excel draws everything. When OpenAnyDoc saves a workbook it keeps values, formulas, number formats, merged cells and column widths, but not charts, images, pivot tables or conditional formats. If a workbook depends on those, keep the original file.

Questions?

Write to support@openanydoc.com and describe the workbook (no personal data).