Excel to PDF
Make a PDF from an Excel spreadsheet for printing, emailing or attaching, with formulas worked out and wide sheets shrunk to fit the page if you wish. Everything is done on your own device.
How to use it
- Decide which sheets to include, and whether to fit each sheet to one page wide.
- Pick one spreadsheet or several (up to 5 at a time), or drop them into the box. On your first visit the converter downloads, which is about 78 MB.
- Download each PDF on its own, or download them all together in one ZIP file.
How your sheets will look
The PDF shows your spreadsheet as it would appear on paper: formulas worked out, number and currency formats unchanged, and cell colours, borders and merged cells left as they are. Any print areas, page breaks and portrait or landscape settings stored in the file are followed. Fit each sheet to one page wide is switched on to start with and shrinks wide sheets so every column sits across one page, rather than overflowing onto extra pages. Switch it off to use the spreadsheet's own print settings instead. These choices apply to XLSX files; older XLS files always follow their own print settings.
The converter is a full document engine of about 78 MB and is fetched first; then the page locks itself and only then opens your spreadsheet. From that point it cannot send or fetch anything online, so your figures cannot leave your device even by accident, and links to other files or websites inside the spreadsheet are not followed. Your browser usually holds on to the converter so later conversions start much faster, although it may clear it to save space. Wi-Fi is a good idea. It is designed for computers: on a phone it can be slow or stop, and phone files are capped at 10 MB.
Where results can differ
The work is done by LibreOffice, the well-known free office suite, running in your browser. It is not Microsoft Excel, so some chart types, conditional formatting, pivot tables and a handful of formulas that the two programs calculate differently may not match. Check the PDF before you depend on it.
Hidden sheets are not included, with one exception: in an older .xls file, a hidden sheet that has its own print area may still show up, so save the file as .xlsx first if that matters. Password-protected spreadsheets cannot be converted; take the password off in Excel beforehand. Macros are never run.
Questions and answers
Why has my spreadsheet been split across so many pages?
Wide sheets push columns onto extra pages unless they are shrunk to the page width. Tick Fit each sheet to one page wide to keep every column on a single page across.
Is it possible to convert a single sheet?
Yes, for XLSX files. Under Which sheets, pick Only the sheet that was open when the file was saved.
Will my formulas be worked out?
They will. Values are calculated when the spreadsheet opens, just as Excel does. A few Excel functions are handled differently or not at all, so check any figure that is important.
What about ODS spreadsheets?
Those have a page of their own, ODS to PDF. This one is for Excel files.
Does TeddyPDF upload my file?
No. Your browser does all the work, on your own device. Before it opens your file, this page shuts off its own ability to send or fetch anything, and your browser holds it to that. Try it: once the page has loaded, turn off your Wi-Fi and the tool still works. How the lock works.