Excel to PDF Converter

A spreadsheet that looks tidy on screen can print badly. Columns run off the edge, a hidden sheet of working notes ends up in the middle of the file, and the header row only appears on page one. This converter gives you control over those things before the PDF is made, so the file you send matches what you meant to send.

How to convert Excel to PDF

1. Choose your file. Click "Choose Excel file" or drop an .xls, .xlsx, .xlsm or .ods workbook on the box. One file at a time, up to 25 MB.
2. Tick the sheets you want. Every sheet is listed with its used range, such as A1:K240. Visible sheets start ticked and hidden sheets start unticked.
3. Set orientation, paper and scaling. "As in file" keeps the page setup saved in the workbook. "Fit all columns to page width" is selected by default because cut-off columns are the most common problem.
4. Convert. The status line shows how long the conversion has been running, and you can cancel at any time.
5. Check the PDF. Look at the page count and the first page preview, then open the file and scroll through it.
6. Download. The PDF keeps the name of your workbook. If something is off, choose "Convert again with different options" without uploading the file a second time.

How the conversion works

Excel decides what lands on each printed page using a long list of rules: print areas, manual page breaks, scaling, repeated title rows, merged cells, row heights, embedded charts and conditional formatting. A script running in your browser cannot reproduce all of that faithfully, so this tool does not try. Your workbook is sent to our server and opened by LibreOffice, a full spreadsheet application, which lays out the pages and writes the PDF.

Your file is sent over HTTPS to our server and converted with LibreOffice. It is used only to make your PDF and is deleted automatically within 15 minutes. Macros in .xlsm files are never run, and links to other workbooks or external data are not refreshed, so the PDF shows the values that were saved in your file. The PDF itself is deleted from the server as soon as it has been sent to your browser; the uploaded workbook is kept only so you can convert it again with other settings, and it is removed on the schedule above.

Stop columns being cut off

When a sheet is wider than the paper, the extra columns move to separate pages, which makes a table hard to read. Try these in order:

• Fit all columns to page width. The default here. Every column fits across one page and the rows continue onto as many pages as they need.
• Landscape. Turning the page gives roughly 40 percent more width, so text needs less shrinking.
• A3 or Tabloid paper. Useful for very wide sheets that will be read on screen or printed on a large-format printer.
• Narrow margins. Under More options. A small gain, but sometimes it is the last column you needed.
• Repeat the first row. Long tables stay readable when the headings appear at the top of every page.
• Print areas. If only part of a sheet matters, set a print area in Excel and keep "Ignore print areas" unticked so the tool respects it.

There is a trade-off. Scaling makes everything smaller, so a sheet with 60 columns squeezed onto portrait A4 may end up with text too small to read. If the preview looks cramped, switch to landscape or a larger paper size before scaling further. "Fit each sheet to one page" is handy for a summary or a dashboard, but on a sheet with hundreds of rows it shrinks the text a long way.

Common mistakes

• Formulas without saved results. Files written by scripts or export tools sometimes contain formulas but no calculated values. Those cells can show as blank or 0 in the PDF. Open the file in Excel, let it calculate, save, and convert again.
• Forgetting hidden sheets. Hidden sheets are listed but left out by default. Tick one only if you really want it in the PDF.
• Huge unused ranges. A stray value or formatting in cell XFD1048576 makes the used range enormous and can produce hundreds of near-empty pages. The used range shown for each sheet helps you spot this. Delete the extra rows and columns in Excel, or set a print area.
• Merged cells across page breaks. A merged block that straddles a page break is split between pages. Adjust the break in Excel's Page Break Preview, or change the scaling so the block fits.
• Fonts the server does not have. If your workbook uses a font that is not installed on our server, a similar font is used instead, which can change column widths slightly. Common Office fonts have close substitutes installed.
• Not checking the PDF. Always scroll through the result before sending it, especially for invoices, reports or anything with totals.

Honest limits

• Accepted formats are .xls, .xlsx, .xlsm and .ods, up to 25 MB, one file at a time. A PDF can have at most 500 pages.
• Password-protected or encrypted workbooks are not supported. Remove the password in Excel first.
• Macros are ignored. Anything a macro would normally build or update will not appear.
• The PDF is made by LibreOffice, not Microsoft Excel. Results can differ from Excel's own PDF export, most often with newer chart types, unusual fonts and complex conditional formatting. Old .xls files and .ods files are also read through LibreOffice and may lay out slightly differently from the original application.
• A PDF made here is a plain PDF. It is not digitally signed, certified or saved in an archival format such as PDF/A, and this page does not give accounting, legal or compliance advice.

Related tools

Going the other way? PDF to Excel pulls tables out of a PDF into an editable spreadsheet. For documents rather than workbooks, use Word to PDF. Once you have your PDF, you can merge it with other reports, shrink it with the PDF Compressor if it is too large to email, add a password with Protect PDF, or mark it as a draft with Watermark PDF.

• PDF to Excel Pull tables out of a PDF into an editable spreadsheet.
• Word to PDF Turn .doc and .docx documents into PDFs.
• Merge PDF Combine your PDF with other reports into one file.
• PDF Compressor Shrink a large PDF so it fits in an email.
• Protect PDF Add a password before you share the file.
• Watermark PDF Mark pages as Draft, Confidential or your own text.