XLS and XLSX are two of the most popular file formats for storing and manipulating spreadsheets. XLS is the file extension used by Microsoft Excel 97-2003, while XLSX is the newer file format used by Microsoft Excel 2007 and later. While both formats are widely used, the XLSX format offers several advantages over its predecessor, including better file compression, improved data recovery, and increased maximum worksheet size. If you have an XLS file that you want to take advantage of these benefits, you will need to convert it to XLSX. In this article, we will discuss how to do it and why you need it.
As mentioned earlier, the XLSX format offers several advantages over the XLS format. Here are some of the key benefits of converting XLS to XLSX:
Better file compression: XLSX files are compressed using the ZIP algorithm, which makes them much smaller than XLS files. This means that you can store more XLSX files in the same amount of disk space, which can be especially important if you are dealing with large volumes of data.
Improved data recovery: XLSX files have a built-in mechanism for recovering corrupted data. If a problem occurs while saving an XLSX file, Excel can usually recover most, if not all, of the data in the file. This is not possible with XLS files, which can be more prone to data corruption.
Increased maximum worksheet size: XLSX files can contain up to 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns per worksheet, compared to 65,536 rows and 256 columns in XLS files. This means that you can work with much larger datasets in XLSX format.
Compatibility: XLSX files are compatible with newer versions of Microsoft Excel, as well as other spreadsheet software like Google Sheets and Apple Numbers.
Converting an XLS file to XLSX is a simple process that can be done using Microsoft Excel. Here's how to do it:
Open Microsoft Excel.
Click on the "File" tab in the top left corner of the screen.
Click on "Open."
In the "Open" dialog box, navigate to the folder that contains the XLS file that you want to convert.
Click on the file to select it.
Click on the drop-down arrow next to the "Open" button.
Select "Open and Repair."
In the "Repair" dialog box, select "Extract Data."
Save the extracted data as an XLSX file by clicking on the "File" tab and then selecting "Save As."
In the "Save As" dialog box, select "Excel Workbook (*.xlsx)" from the "Save as type" drop-down menu.
Choose a location to save the file and give it a name.
Click "Save."
Your XLS file has now been converted to XLSX format.
Alternatively, you can use an online file converter like Zamzar or CloudConvert to convert your XLS file to XLSX. Simply upload the XLS file to the converter and select "XLSX" as the output format. The converter will then convert the file and provide you with a download link to the converted file.
