How to convert Excel to PDF
Updated
Contents
To convert an Excel spreadsheet to PDF, open Excel to PDF, add your .xlsx, .xls or .csv file, press Convert to PDF, and download the result. Anyone can open, print or file the PDF without owning Excel, and nobody can overtype a cell by accident.
The PDF is a printout of your spreadsheet, not a working copy of it. Each formula cell shows the figure it displayed when the file was opened, and nothing in the PDF recalculates later. The pages are laid out by LibreOffice, the open-source office suite, using the page setup saved in your workbook.
Excel to PDF runs on a secure server. Your spreadsheet, up to 50 MB, travels over an encrypted connection and is deleted when the job ends; the download link stops working after 60 minutes. No account is needed.
Step by step
- 1Open the Excel to PDF tool.
- 2Before you start, set the page layout in Excel if a wide sheet must fit: choose landscape and fit-all-columns-on-one-page scaling, then save. The tool has no layout settings of its own.
- 3Drag your .xlsx, .xls or .csv onto the box that says “Add your document, or browse”, or click it to choose the file. Remove swaps it for another.
- 4Press Convert to PDF. Your spreadsheet uploads over an encrypted connection, and the button follows the job while LibreOffice converts it.
- 5When “Your PDF is ready.” appears, press Download. The link stops working after 60 minutes, so save the PDF before you close the tab.
How the pages are laid out
The converter gets your file and no settings at all. Orientation, scaling and where wide columns break onto a new page come from the page setup saved in the workbook, and LibreOffice's defaults fill in the rest. So if columns spill onto extra pages or the text comes out tiny, fix it in your spreadsheet app: set landscape and fit-to-width scaling, save, and convert again.
A CSV file is plain text and cannot store any page setup, so it always gets the default layout and plain formatting. If a CSV export needs to fit the page, open it in your spreadsheet app, set the layout, save it as .xlsx and convert that copy.
Formulas, sheets and macros
Formulas do not come across as formulas. Each cell is printed as the result it shows, which suits a month-end report or an audit folder: later edits to the workbook never change the PDF.
There is no sheet picker, so the whole workbook goes to the converter. To send just one sheet, copy it into a new workbook and convert that. A macro-enabled .xlsm is refused as soon as you add it, before anything uploads; save a copy as .xlsx first.
Excel to PDF converts one spreadsheet per job. To hand over several as a single file, convert each one, then combine the PDFs with Merge PDF. For Word documents, Word to PDF works the same way.
Where your spreadsheet goes
The conversion does not happen on your computer. Your spreadsheet travels over an encrypted connection to our secure server, is kept only for its job, and is deleted when that job ends, whether it worked or not. The finished PDF's download link stops working after 60 minutes, and a daily storage rule erases the stored copy after that.
The page fetches the PDF as soon as it is ready, so the Download button saves the copy already in your tab. Files over 50 MB are refused when you add them, before anything is uploaded.
Common questions
Can I choose which sheets go into the PDF?
Not on this page: there is no sheet picker, and the whole workbook goes to the converter. Copy the sheet you want into a new workbook and convert that.
Why are my columns split across pages?
Because the converter follows the workbook's own page setup and has no layout options. In Excel or LibreOffice Calc, set landscape and fit-all-columns-on-one-page scaling, save, and convert again. A CSV stores no page setup, so save it as .xlsx first.
Which files can I convert?
Excel workbooks in .xlsx or the older .xls format, and CSV files, one per conversion, up to 50 MB. A macro-enabled .xlsm is refused; save a copy as .xlsx and convert that.
Can I convert a password-protected workbook?
No. The page has no password field, so a workbook that asks for a password to open cannot be converted. Remove the password in your spreadsheet app, save a copy, and convert the copy.
Is my spreadsheet uploaded?
Yes. It travels over an encrypted connection to our secure server, which deletes it when the conversion job ends. The PDF's download link stops working after 60 minutes, and a daily storage rule erases the stored copy.