Convert Excel to PDF

When do you need to convert Excel to PDF?

When you want to share a table that the other person should read, not edit: a price quote for a client, a small invoice list, a class timetable, or a contact sheet to attach to an application. A PDF opens the same way on any phone or computer, even without Excel installed.

What the tool does exactly

The tool reads the workbook (.xlsx, .xls or .csv), turns each sheet into an HTML table, and takes a picture of that table to place on an A4 page. In practice this means:

• One page per sheet. Every sheet, including hidden ones, becomes exactly one page with the sheet name as a heading. The whole sheet is scaled to fit that page.
• A uniform look. Cell values, merged cells and number formats such as currency are kept, but the table gets the tool's own style: a purple first row with white text, light borders, alternating row shading and centred text. Your fonts, colours, bold text and column widths are not reproduced.
• Formula results, not formulas. The PDF shows the value saved in the file. A file that was never opened and saved in a spreadsheet program (for example, one exported by a script) may show those cells empty.
• An image, not text. Each page is a picture, so text in the PDF can't be selected or searched, and files are larger than a normal export.

How to convert Excel to PDF

1. 1
   Choose an Excel or CSV file or drag it onto the box.
2. 2
   Pick an option under "PDF Output Orientation". "Auto / Best Fit (Recommended)" uses landscape for tables wider than they are tall, and portrait otherwise. "Portrait" and "Landscape" force that orientation for every page.
3. 3
   Click "Convert to PDF Now".
4. 4
   Check the pages with "Preview Output PDF", then click "Download PDF File". The PDF keeps your workbook's name.

Getting a readable result

• Because a sheet never spills onto a second page, a sheet with hundreds of rows or dozens of columns ends up too small to read. Keep each sheet to roughly what would fit on one printed page, or split long data across several sheets before converting.
• The table direction follows each sheet's content: a sheet whose text is mostly Arabic is laid out right to left, any other sheet left to right. The sheet's own right-to-left setting in Excel is not read, so a mostly English sheet always comes out left to right.
• If you need selectable text, page breaks or your exact formatting, use your spreadsheet program's own "Save as PDF" or print-to-PDF option instead.
• Files too large to email? Try Compress PDF. To join several exported files, use Merge PDF.

Limitations

• Charts, images, comments and conditional formatting are not included.
• Print settings from the workbook (print areas, headers, footers, page breaks) are ignored.
• One file at a time; very large workbooks depend on your device's memory.

Where is the processing done?

The workbook is read by SheetJS, drawn by html2canvas and assembled with pdf-lib, all inside the browser tab you have open. Your figures don't travel to us at any point.

Excel to PDF: frequently asked questions