What is an xls file. What is the best way to open an .xls file?

xls files are elements of an Excel workbook, presented in Microsoft Excel format.

In the modern version, they can have one of two extensions:

xlsx- modern version that does not contain macros;

xlsm- if there are macros in the book.

Figure 1. Appearance of the icon for files with the .xls format

In this article, we'll talk about how to read and edit their content on different devices.

How to open xls file online

There are many resources on the Internet that do not require registration to view this type of data. Most of them support Russian language.

For example, this is a browser version of Microsoft Excel. Its functions and tools are completely identical.

Note: To open an xls file online in this viewer, you will need to register with the MS service.

Its main qualities:

sharing, which allows you to quickly share documents with other users on the Internet;

the ability to work with data transmitted via Skype and within it.

The following sites will also help you quickly open an excel file online for free.

Google Docs

Figure 2. Appearance of the Google Docs online service interface

Includes spreadsheet and word processors.

Allows you to easily open, edit and forward tables.

Supports cloud storage and sharing capabilities (Figure 2).

Zoho Excel Viewer

Registration is required to use.

Its capabilities are almost identical to Google Docs.

Provides saving, editing and opening of documents.

You can upload your business projects and work data to quickly share them online.

EditGrid Viewer

A web application that is a spreadsheet in the format Web 2.0. Its features:

free options for private users;

subscription package for corporate clients for a fee;

access for organizations on partner channels and websites.

Docspal

A resource limited in its capabilities that allows you to open data in a browser only for viewing. It does not require registration (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Appearance of the Docspal online service interface

ThinkFree Online

Free office suite, runs in the cloud, available online. The application interface is identical MS Office 2003,but supports tables created in the 2007 version of the program. Peculiarities:

multi-platform access;

universal online viewer;

1GB of storage space;

Registration is required, but installation of the software itself is not required.

There are several basic options for how to open an xls file on your computer.

Use EXCEL 2007. This or a more recent version of the spreadsheet to adequately display the content and read all formulas.

It has all the features and functions familiar from the office suite for PC. They are combined with touch input designed specifically for Android.

The quality of layouts and compatibility will remain the same as for the full-length version. The appearance of tables on tablets and phones will also remain unchanged without losing any data.

All Excel elements are available - formulas, charts, sparklines and the tables themselves.

Windows Phone

In the case of Windows Phone, everything is even simpler. The phone already has a built-in application Microsoft Excel Mobile. It supports all current extensions: XLS, XLSX, XLT, XLTX, XLSM, XLTM.

But do not forget that software developed for smartphones has fewer features than the Microsoft Office 2010 version and its successors.

The MS Excel book may not be editable due to the presence of functions that are not supported by the phone. You can find out more about them in the support service. If a table containing complex or voluminous formulas is compiled and saved incorrectly, it may not open at all.

Iphone

There are several options for viewing Excel documents on Apple devices.

Namely:

XlOpener- a program that allows you to convert unreadable xls and xlsx data into the correct format. It takes up a little memory on the device, but is paid. To install it you will need iOS7.0 and higher. It is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Microsoft Excel From Microsoft Corporation - the application is optimized for the iPad Pro and allows you to freely view any spreadsheet. To create and change them, you will need a paid subscription, and the package weighs a lot - 323MB. It is compatible with all the company's products except Apple Watch, but it requires a minimum of iOS9.0.

Documents Free(Mobile Office Suite) - has unlimited access to the network, supports many languages and allows you to open the xls extension, takes up little memory on the device. Universal for all Apple products, compatible with all iOS, starting from version 6.

If you are looking for an answer to the question of how to open files with the XLS extension, then you have come to the right place. This format is used in Excel tables from Microsoft Office. Sometimes users are faced with a situation where they need to quickly view or edit an Excel file online, since there is simply no office suite on the computer. In this manual you can find out how to open XLS file online using special Internet services.

Opening xls and xlsx documents using such services has a number of advantages. For example, you can open an Excel file on any computer with a wide variety of configurations without having office applications, you just need access to the global network. Below we will look at the most popular online services for opening xls and xlsx files and editing them. Let's get started!

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Open xls and xlsx in Excel Online

Here is another service designed for opening office documents and editing them. Registration is not required here and this is very good. The interface of this resource is completely in Russian, so even an insecure PC user can figure out what and how. To upload a document to this resource, you need to click on the large button “Select a file (or) drag it here.”

Online Excel Viewer is not inferior in functionality to the first service from Microsoft, but for a one-time viewing or minor editing of a document it is quite suitable. In general, I recommend it.
Online Excel Viewer Page

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Open a spreadsheet with Google Docs

The last service on our list for opening any office documents is Google Docs. Here you can create, open and edit Excel files. Everything is intuitive and very similar to the Microsoft Excel office program. To fully use the service, authorization is required. I think almost every user has a Google account, and if not, then registration takes literally a few minutes. To open and edit an Excel document, go to the page and click on the folder button.

Next, on the next page, click on the “Download” section.

To download the file, click in the center on the “Select a file on your computer” button.

An explorer will open where we indicate the storage location of your XLS file. After these manipulations, you can edit the document without any problems.

Friends, of course, there are many more different services for opening and editing Excel tables, but these three are the most popular and functional. I hope my article helped you answer your question how to open XLS documents. That's all! All the best!

XLS files are spreadsheets. Along with XLSX and ODS, this format is one of the most popular representatives of the group of spreadsheet documents. Let's find out exactly what software you need to have to work with XLS format tables.

XLS is one of the earliest spreadsheet formats. It was developed by Microsoft, being the base format of the program up to and including the 2003 version. After that, it was replaced as the main one by the more modern and compact XLSX. However, XLS is losing popularity relatively slowly, since importing files with the specified extension is used by a fairly large number of third-party programs, which for various reasons have not switched to a modern analogue. Today, in the Excel interface, the specified extension is called “Excel 97 -2003 Book”. Now let's find out what software you can use to run documents of this type.

Method 1: Excel

Naturally, documents of this format can be opened using the Microsoft Excel application, for which the tables presented were originally created. Moreover, unlike XLSX, objects with the XLS extension can even open older Excel programs without additional patches. First of all, let's look at how to do this for Excel 2010 and later versions.

In addition, if you have Microsoft Office installed on your computer and you have not made changes to the list of default programs for opening file types, then you can launch an XLS workbook in Excel by simply double-clicking on the name of the corresponding document in Windows Explorer or another file manager .

Method 2: LibreOffice package

You can also open an XLS workbook using the Calc application, which is part of the free office suite. Calc is a spreadsheet processor that is a free version of Excel. It fully supports working with XLS documents, including viewing, editing and saving, although this format is not the base for the specified program.

You can open an XLS book directly while already in the Calc application.

Method 3: Apache OpenOffice package

The next option to open an XLS workbook is an application that is also called Calc, but is included in the office suite. This program is also free and open source. It also supports all manipulations with XLS documents (viewing, editing, saving).

As with LibreOffice, you can open a workbook directly from Calc.

Method 4: File Viewer

You can launch an XLS document using one of many programs specifically designed for viewing documents of various formats that support the above extension. One of the best programs of this kind is File Viewer. Its advantage is that, unlike similar software, File Viewer can not only view XLS documents, but also modify and save them. True, it is better not to abuse these capabilities and use full-fledged table processors, which were discussed above, for these purposes. The main disadvantage of File Viewer is that the free period of use is limited to only 10 days, and then you will need to buy a license.

It is possible to launch the file through the opening window.

As you can see, you can open documents with the XLS extension and make changes to them using a number of spreadsheet processors that are included in various office packages. In addition, you can view the contents of the book using special viewer applications.

Files with the .xls extension are often used in work and study. They contain tables with filled data, as well as a number of settings for them. Their use helps to save and distribute information, organize it in a convenient form. Not everyone knows which program to open .xls tables, so they encounter some difficulties.

Free programs for opening .xls

A free project that contains a whole range of various office utilities. Among them is a powerful table processor. It quickly processes even very large files and allows you to edit them in any convenient way. OpenOffice Calc is the name of the program that works with xls.

It has a user-friendly design that is intuitive. Of course, to perform complex operations you will have to study online manuals or help from the developers. The utility is distributed in Russian. How to open a .xls file in this program? You just need to drag it into the work area, or call the corresponding item from the main menu. The functionality of the program is not inferior to paid, more demanding analogues.

The interesting thing is that you can not only download Calc for free, but also get all the source codes. And then apply them in your commercial projects.

Most Windows users associate the word “document” with this particular package - Microsoft Office 2013. Office is the standard for office programs, and its interface is familiar to everyone, even the most inexperienced users. This is a definite advantage.

Excel is the name of the spreadsheet processor from Microsoft. It is incredibly powerful, functional and comfortable. You can do almost everything in it, from a small table to a huge statistical document in .xls format. How to open a finished file if the program is installed on a computer at home? You can use similar software, or the online version, which Microsoft kindly provides to all users completely free of charge. This version has a number of limitations, but it is enough for simple editing.

If you have any questions, ask in the comments, we will definitely help.

Files with the xls extension, as well as with xlsx extensions, are files created in the Microsoft Excel program, so they can be opened accordingly with the same program. You can install some kind of trial version of Microsoft Office so that you don’t have to pay for it and don’t have to look for any keys. You can also look for alternative ways to open this file if you don't want to search for Microsoft Office.

There is one free service called Google Docs. If you already have an account and mailbox from Google, then log in there. If not, then create a mailbox; I wrote about how to do this in the article “”.

We look at the list of files and open our Excel.

Its contents are displayed to us.

Unfortunately, you cannot edit anything there. If it doesn't fit, you can use another one. Download the program to your computer.

Let's launch the program. We are immediately prompted to select a file to open. If they don’t offer it, then click on the “Open” button in the form of a yellow open folder.

This is what our open document looks like.

Now you know, how to open xls file.

How to open a document in xls format if you do not have the MS Office software package installed on your computer?

As a rule, the main and most popular application for viewing and editing .xls files is Excel, however, not all PC and portable device users have the opportunity to install this spreadsheet processor.

.xls is a data file format developed by Microsoft. Information in a document of this format is stored in special address cells, thus creating a complex table. Format .xlsx is a newer modification of the extension that allows you to create a smaller document, but with a wider range of functions.

Let's take a closer look at alternative programs that work with .xls for all popular operating systems today.

If you have Windows

In addition to the most popular office suite MS Office, many other good programs for working with documents have been developed for the Windows OS. For example, the Open Office utility is free for your PC, which can work with text files, spreadsheets and presentations.

Open Office

To get started, launch the program and on the start page select the type of document you want to create:

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is another good open source spreadsheet program. In addition to utilities for working with text, presentations and tables, LibreOffice has a built-in vector graphics editor, formula editor and DBMS (comprehensive database management system). The program is distributed exclusively free of charge.

If you have Mac OS

Recently, on Mac OS you can download the official version of the MS Office package, however, this is not the most popular program among Apple OS users.

Apple Numbers

Apple Numbers is perhaps the best spreadsheet utility available for the Mac. The application allows you to open files very quickly, without losing quality or data. Using Apple Numbers, you will not encounter the problem of graphs and table cells that have moved out of place.

Planamesa NeoOffice

Planamesa NeoOffice is a set of software for working with text, presentations and tables. Supports all common office document formats, in particular xls.

With this application you can open, edit, save files. The main window and toolbar of the program are very reminiscent of MS Office.

Also for Mac OS you can download the previously described Open Office or LibreOffice.

Online services

If you do not want to install bulky programs on your computer, you should use Internet services that can work with office files. All such sites are usually free and do not restrict users in their use.

Yandex Disk

Yandex Disk is a comprehensive cloud storage that allows you not only to store files, but also to view them. Unfortunately, you will not be able to edit the document, but you can quickly view its contents.

To open .xls, first upload the file you need to the service (to do this, you need to have a registered account and enough space on your cloud disk). Then wait for the file to finish downloading, click on it and select “View”. The contents of the file will open in a new browser page.

Google Docs

The next service that can quickly open xls without losing data is Google Docs.

Website Google Drive(drive.google.com) – cloud storage for any type of files. The service has attached applications for working with documents, which open and work directly in the browser.

To work, you need an Internet connection or additional utility settings that allow you to work offline (this task is also performed by the Chrome browser extension).

The service is popularly called GoogleDox; it fully works with all types of ordinary office documents and contains many copies of templates, or document templates - for creating resumes, to-do sheets, annual reports, budgeting, etc. (Fig. 6).

The application for text documents is called Google Docs, it is convenient for opening and editing any text files, including MS Word files with .doc, .docx resolution; for presentations –

It should be noted that the version for Android OS was a success for the developers - a simple interface, minimal consumption of device resources and a wide range of functions brought Kingsoft WPS Office to the TOP of the official Google Play store.

Fig. 10 – appearance of the Kingsoft WPS Office program in Android OS

Also on Android you can use the above online services for free.

If you have iOS

There are quite a few good office programs for iOS. Until recently, the most popular was the official Microsoft Excel, but recently more and more users are switching to more universal online services and client applications from Google.

If all this does not suit you for some reason, there is another program that is worth paying attention to - MobiSystems OfficeSuite Pro.

MobiSystems OfficeSuite Pro

In addition to viewing documents, users also have the opportunity to use a convenient built-in explorer to search for files in the phone's memory and download additional free dictionaries, tools and e-books.

If you have Windows Phone

All Windows Phone devices come pre-installed with Microsoft's document management software.

However, a decent number of users note many shortcomings in the work of standard software: files are difficult to find in Explorer, large documents open with loss of formatting, etc.

There are other good programs in the official Application Store that you can use as an analogue to the standard ones for working with xls.

Excel Mobile

Excel Mobile - this utility only supports spreadsheets. Thanks to this, the program has more functions. The interface is identical to standard Excel for Windows.

How to open a document in xlsx format if you do not have MS Office installed on your computer?

As a rule, the main and most popular application for viewing and editing .xls files is Excel, however, not all PC and portable device users have the opportunity to install this spreadsheet processor.

.xls is a data file format developed by Microsoft. Information in a document of this format is stored in special address cells, thus creating a complex table.

Format .xlsx is a newer modification of the extension that allows you to create a smaller document, but with a wider range of functions.

Let's take a closer look at alternative programs that work with .xls for all popular operating systems today.

If you have Windows

In addition to the most popular office suite MS Office, many other good programs for working with documents have been developed for the Windows OS.

For example, the Open Office utility is free for your PC, which can work with text files, spreadsheets and presentations.

Open Office

To get started, launch the program and on the start page select the type of document you want to create:

LibreOffice

LibreOffice is another good open source spreadsheet program.

In addition to utilities for working with text, presentations and tables, LibreOffice has a built-in vector graphics editor, formula editor and DBMS (comprehensive database management system).

The program is distributed exclusively free of charge.

If you have Mac OS

Recently, on Mac OS you can download the official version of the MS Office package, however, this is not the most popular program among Apple OS users.

Apple Numbers

Apple Numbers is perhaps the best spreadsheet utility available for the Mac.

The application allows you to open files very quickly, without losing quality or data. Using Apple Numbers, you will not encounter the problem of graphs and table cells that have moved out of place.

Planamesa NeoOffice

Planamesa NeoOffice is a set of software for working with text, presentations and tables. Supports all common office document formats, in particular xls.

With this application you can open, edit, save files. The main window and toolbar of the program are very reminiscent of MS Office.

Also for Mac OS you can download the previously described Open Office or LibreOffice.

Online services

If you do not want to install bulky programs on your computer, you should use Internet services that can work with office files.

All such sites are usually free and do not restrict users in their use.

Yandex Disk

Yandex Disk is a comprehensive cloud storage that allows you not only to store files, but also to view them.

Unfortunately, you will not be able to edit the document, but you can quickly view its contents.

To open .xls, first upload the file you need to the service (to do this, you need to have a registered account and enough space on your cloud disk).

Then wait for the file to finish downloading, click on it and select “View”. The contents of the file will open in a new browser page.

Google Docs

The next service that can quickly open xls without losing data is Google Docs.

Website Google Drive(drive.google.com) – cloud storage for any type of files.

The service has attached applications for working with documents, which open and work directly in the browser.

To work, you need an Internet connection or additional utility settings that allow you to work offline (this task is also performed by the Chrome browser extension).

The service is popularly known as GoogleDox.

It fully works with all types of ordinary office documents and contains many copies of templates, or document templates - for creating resumes, to-do sheets, annual reports, budgeting, etc. (Fig. 6).

Fig. 7 – viewing user documents in Google Docs

To access Google Drive, you must have a Google account - the service works in conjunction with the mail service gmail.com.

At the start, each user receives7 GB of free storage space and the ability to edit any documents online, including in collaboration with other users.

Rice. 9 – service page for working with spreadsheet documents

is a popular office program for Android, which is in no way inferior in functionality to the version for computers. Now every owner of a tablet or phone with Android will be able to make the necessary calculations!

Screenshots of Microsoft Excel →

Here you can view, edit or create new tables, even on the go. The program has intuitive touch input, so you can work with it with one hand.

You can download the Microsoft Excel application for Android on our website, safely and without registration.

Advantages of the application

Availability of necessary functions such as tables, formulas, sparklines and charts.
Ease of use and pleasant minimalist design.
Ability to work on a document with other users.
Align and merge cells, sort and filter.
Performing a book search.
Synchronization with cloud storages.
Ability to change the font, fill and style of cells.
Availability of its own numeric keyboard, convenient when entering a large number of characters.
Wrap text, highlight cells in bold, italic and underlined.

You can rest assured that the entered data is safe, because, among other things, the application has an autosave function. And for greater convenience, when you start the program, you will see the last opened document. To download Microsoft Excel for Android in Russian for free follow the direct link on this page.

Program overview

Computer version Microsoft Excel Viewer allows you to view and print files in XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLSB, XLT, XLTX, XLM and XLW formats, and also has an intuitive and user-friendly user interface. However, the mobile version will allow you not only to view documents, but also to edit them and create new ones.

System requirements for your computer

System: Windows 10, Windows 8 (8.1), Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 (32-bit / 64-bit).

System requirements for a mobile device

System: Android 4.4 and above | iOS 11.0 and higher.

Features of Microsoft Excel Viewer on your computer

View and copy
	View spreadsheets without first installing the paid software product Microsoft Excel 2003 or 2007 version. However, if the XLSM, XLTM, XLM files contain macros, then Excel Viewer will not be able to execute them. Also, it will not be able to open XLC chart files and HTML documents.
	Copying table contents to the clipboard.
Navigation
	Supports multiple viewing modes (normal, page and layout mode).
	Switch between e-books or worksheets.
	Regular and advanced search for information in the book.
	Change the page orientation from portrait to landscape (and vice versa).
	Page scaling from 10% to 400%.
Other
	Print the entire workbook, a selected area, or specific rows and columns. You can also print multiple pages on one sheet.

Creating and processing tables
	With Microsoft Excel, you can solve both common and complex problems with large amounts of input data. You can build charts, graphs, sort data in tables, use various filters and much more.
Automatic saving
	You don't have to worry about the safety of data in spreadsheets. The information is automatically saved. You can also restore the previous version of the table.
General access
	Thanks to support for cloud storage (Dropbox, SharePoint, Box, Google Drive), you can access tables from any device (tablet, smartphone, computer) and no matter where you are now. You can also share your spreadsheets.
Collaboration
	With Microsoft Excel, you can have a group of people view and edit a spreadsheet at the same time. For example, with work colleagues.

Microsoft Excel Viewer 12.0.6424.1000 for Windows

Added IRM service to protect confidential information. If the user does not have rights to copy and print the document, then he will not be able to do this.
Added Microsoft Authenticode technology to verify digital signatures.

Microsoft Excel 16.0.11126.20063 for Android

Improved application stability.

Microsoft Excel 2.20 for iPhone/iPad

Bugs fixed.