Convert Excel to PDF
Drop an Excel file here, or click to browse
This tool uploads your file — it's deleted automatically in 15 minutes
Spreadsheets get sent as PDFs when the recipient needs to read the numbers but not change them — statements, invoices, reports and fee schedules. Converting also freezes the formulas into the values they currently show, which is usually the point. This tool converts .xlsx, .xls, .ods and .csv files to PDF. It runs on our server because a browser cannot open and paginate a spreadsheet, and your file is deleted automatically within fifteen minutes.
Where the columns go is decided by your print settings
This is the thing that surprises people. A spreadsheet has no pages until something decides where to break it, and that decision comes from the print setup saved in the file — orientation, scaling, and print area. A wide sheet with no print area set will spill columns onto separate pages, so a table you expect on one page arrives split across four with no obvious connection between them. Setting the print area and choosing 'fit all columns on one page' in Excel before converting fixes almost every complaint about Excel to PDF output.
Formulas become values, and that is deliberate
The PDF shows what the cells displayed at the moment of conversion. Formulas are not preserved because a PDF has no way to hold them — which is exactly why sending a PDF is appropriate when you want a fixed record. It also means anything showing an error, or a cell that was still recalculating, is captured as it appeared. Worth a glance before sending: check that no cell shows a reference error, and that dates are formatted the way you intend rather than as raw serial numbers.
This tool uploads your file
Most tools here run entirely in your browser. Spreadsheet conversion does not, because laying out and paginating a spreadsheet requires a full office engine. Your file is uploaded over an encrypted connection, converted, and deleted automatically within fifteen minutes — nothing is stored and no contents are logged. For a spreadsheet containing salary or financial data you would rather not upload, Excel's own export to PDF does the same job on your own machine.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is my table split across several pages?
- Because the sheet is wider than the page and no print area was set. In Excel, set the print area and choose to fit all columns on one page before converting.
- Are formulas kept?
- No, and that is intended. The PDF captures the values the cells showed at conversion time. A PDF cannot hold live formulas.
- Which spreadsheet formats work?
- Modern .xlsx, legacy .xls, OpenDocument .ods, and plain .csv files.
- Will my charts convert?
- Yes, charts and embedded images carry across into the PDF as they appear in the sheet.
- Is my spreadsheet uploaded?
- Yes. This is one of the few tools here that uploads, and the file is deleted automatically within 15 minutes.
- Does it convert every sheet in the workbook?
- It converts what the workbook's print settings specify. If you only need one sheet, set that sheet's print area or remove the others before converting.
- Can I convert a PDF back into Excel?
- Not with this tool. Recovering a spreadsheet's structure from a PDF is far less reliable than converting a document, so we would rather not offer something that quietly produces wrong numbers.