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Your old spreadsheet stops at row 65,536. The new one doesn't.

The .xls format from Excel 97-2003 has hard limits: 65,536 rows, 256 columns, 4,000 cell styles. Data exports that hit the ceiling get silently cut off. Converting to .xlsx lifts every limit and makes the file far smaller.

rows in your data45,814 rows

.xls.xlsx

in .xls45,814 rowsin .xlsx45,814 rowssame data, size8.8 MB → 2.9 MB

This fits in either format, but .xlsx is about three times smaller for the same data and opens faster.

table_rowsRows per sheetenough for a year of hourly data65,5361,048,576

view_columnColumns per sheetthe last one is XFD, not IV25616,384

paletteColours and stylesunique cell formats per workbook4,00064,000

functionsNested functionsIF inside IF inside IF…7 levels64 levels

filter_altConditional formatsrules per cell3unlimited

upgradeConvert to XLSX

1 · your file

folder_openOpen filedescriptionSample .docx

Loading the converter…Drop any of 17 readable formats here: Word, ODT, RTF, AbiWord, KWord, StarOffice, EPUB, DocBook, XPS, HTML, Markdown, CSV or text. The format is read from the bytes, not the name.

2 · convert to

.pdfshare, print.docxedit in Word.odtLibreOffice.epube-readers.mdREADMEs.txtwords only

searchAll 28 formats · 14 written hereexpand_more

A4Letter

PDF 1.7 with the standard 14 fonts (nothing embedded), lines wrapped with Helvetica metrics, link annotations.

swap_horizConvert to .pdf

What survives waiting for a file

partin sourceread backstatus

text_fieldsWords---

titleHeadings---

format_list_bulletedList items---

tableTables · cells---

format_boldBold runs---

format_italicItalic runs---

linkLinks---

imageImages---

rate_reviewComments---

translateCharacters---

Open a document or the sample. The table fills in from the file itself; after converting, the output is read back and counted again.

~/one-document-ten-outputs

What each format does to your document.

We converted one source document into every major output format and measured the file that came out. The source was a 37.4 KB DOCX with headings, bold and italic text, a table, numbered and bulleted lists, and one embedded image.

289%PDF, the largest output

166%RTF, bloated but portable

3%Markdown and TXT, image dropped

formattypeoutput size · vs 37.4 KB sourcelayoutkeepsverdict

.docxEditable37.4 KB · 100%ReflowsEverythingThe editing default

.docEditable51 KB · 136%ReflowsEverythingLegacy, larger than DOCX

.odtEditable33.5 KB · 90%ReflowsEverythingOpen standard, smallest office format

.rtfEditable62.1 KB · 166%ReflowsText, styling, tablesVery portable but bloated

.pdfFixed108 KB · 289%ExactExact appearanceFor sharing and printing, not editing

.epubReflowable31.3 KB · 84%Adapts to screenText, styling, imagesFor e-readers

.htmlMarkup1.5 KB · 4%ReflowsText, styling, tablesOpens in any browser

.mdPlain text1.2 KB · 3%ReflowsText, basic stylingSmallest, great for docs and notes

.txtPlain text1.1 KB · 3%NoneText onlyUniversal, but drops all formatting

.dbkMarkup3.5 KB · 9%StructuredText, structureTechnical documentation only

Plain text is tiny because the image goesMarkdown and TXT both came out at 3% of the source, against 100% for DOCX: the embedded image is the bulk of the file, and neither format can hold it.

PDF pays for a fixed pageAt 289% of the source, PDF was the largest output. That is the cost of fixing the layout, fonts and image into a page that looks identical everywhere.

RTF is the surpriseIt keeps formatting but grew to 166% of the DOCX, so it is only worth using when the receiving program cannot read anything better.

Sizes are from one representative document converted with Pandoc and LibreOffice. Your own files will differ, especially with more images, but the relative ordering holds.

~/is-your-pdf-really-text

Why PDF to Word is the hard direction.

A PDF has no paragraphs. It stores “draw these glyphs at x, y in this font”, often one word or one line at a time, and a scanned page stores only a picture. Drop any PDF to see which kind you have and what its page instructions look like.

picture_as_pdfInspect a PDFText PDF sampleScanned PDF sample

Nothing inspected yet. The two samples are written here: one with real text, one that is only a JPEG of a page.

~/already-cut-off

If the export already hit the ceiling, converting won't bring rows back.

Rows beyond 65,536 were never saved into the .xls. The warning signs are easy to spot: we check each sheet and tell you when a sheet ends exactly at the limit, so you know to re-export from the source.

table_viewSummary48 rowscheck_circlefine

table_viewOrders 200665,536 rowserrorhit the limit

table_viewCustomers12,408 rowscheck_circlefine

table_viewReturns65,535 rowswarningone row short

~/xlsx-or-xlsm

Four things in an old workbook that need a decision.

Most workbooks convert with no questions. These are the exceptions, and what we do with each unless you choose otherwise.

codeVBA macrosA macro can’t live in .xlsx. We save a macro-enabled .xlsm instead, so nothing is lost and the file type warns people.arrow_forward.xlsm, macros kept

linkLinks to other filesFormulas that point at another workbook (like =[Budget.xls]Sheet1!A1) keep working once that file is converted too.arrow_forwardlinks updated to .xlsx

functionsOld Excel 4 macrosVery old macro sheets from the 1990s. Excel now blocks them by default for security.arrow_forwardkept, flagged for review

lockPassword to openThe Excel 97 encryption is weak by modern standards. Enter the password and the new file uses strong AES encryption.arrow_forwardupgraded to AES

~/other-routes

Other spreadsheet conversions.

Neighbouring converters, with a typical result for each.

table_viewXLSX to CSVPlain values for a database or script.sales.xlsxarrow_forward.csv picture_as_pdfXLSX to PDFA fixed copy for printing or sending.report.xlsxarrow_forward.pdf grid_onCSV to XLSXTurn an export into a proper workbook with typed columns.export.csvarrow_forward.xlsx