Convert legacy Excel (.xls) to Markdown tables
Turns an Excel 97-2003 workbook into one Markdown table per sheet. Runs entirely inside your browser, so the spreadsheet is never uploaded — which matters more here than for most formats, because spreadsheets are where customer lists live.
When this helps
.xls cannot be pasted at all, and re-saving as CSV flattens a multi-sheet workbook
Convert to one Markdown table per sheet, so the model can still tell which numbers came from where
Current Excel warns about the format and sometimes refuses to open it at all
Read the contents in the browser and keep them as searchable text
A .xls arrives by email and installing Excel to read it once is not worth it
Drop it here and read the tables — nothing is uploaded
Legacy reports need to become plain text before anything can parse them
Convert each workbook and commit the Markdown next to the original
FAQ
- Is my file uploaded to your server?
- No. If your browser supports WebAssembly (WASM, a technology for running software inside the browser safely and quickly), the conversion happens entirely on your device. Reading legacy formats loads a 2.2MB engine on the first run only.
- Why not just re-save it as CSV?
- A CSV holds one sheet. Saving a multi-sheet workbook as CSV either keeps one sheet or loses the boundaries between them. This tool writes each sheet as its own Markdown table under its own heading, so it stays obvious which numbers belong to which sheet.
- Will every .xls convert?
- No. Excel 97-2003 was written by many products over many years. Across 28 real files, 18 converted and 7 held no text at all — workbooks that are only a chart or an embedded image. When there is nothing to extract, the tool says so rather than handing you an empty file.
- Which other formats does this page accept?
- .xlsx, .docx and .pptx, .doc and .ppt, OpenDocument (.ods, .odt, .odp), .rtf, .epub, .csv and .pdf. The format is detected from the file's contents, not its name.
- What happens to formulas?
- The calculated value is written out, not the formula. For pasting into a document or a chat, the number is the useful part.
- Can it open password-protected files?
- No. An encrypted workbook cannot be read, so the tool tells you it is password-protected and stops.
- What is the file size limit?
- 20MB per file.
Related tools
- Excel (.xlsx) to Markdown — For the modern format — converts with no extra download at all
- CSV to Markdown — When the data is already a CSV
- Legacy Word (.doc) to Markdown — For Word 97-2003 documents
- Personal information redaction — Remove names and contact details from a customer list before sharing it