How big a file is allowed?

50MB per upload. Most spreadsheets are well under this — a 10,000-row workbook with formatting is typically 1-5MB. The cases that hit the limit are usually workbooks with hundreds of embedded high-res images or huge raw data sheets (100k+ rows with conditional formatting on every cell). For those, consider summarizing or splitting the data first, or strip the embedded images that you do not need in the PDF.

Can I convert just one sheet from a multi-sheet workbook?

Not directly through this tool — it converts every visible sheet. The workaround is to hide all other sheets in Excel (right-click tab > Hide), save the workbook, and upload. Or copy the sheet you want into a new workbook and upload that. After conversion, unhide the sheets in your original to restore the full workbook. Both options take 30 seconds.

What happens to formulas?

Formulas are evaluated by LibreOffice during the conversion and the resulting values render in the PDF — you see numbers, not formula text. So a cell containing =SUM(A1:A10) shows as the sum value. If you want the formula text to appear (for documentation purposes), display formulas in Excel first (Formulas > Show Formulas, or Ctrl+`) before saving, then convert. The formulas-as-text view will render as the PDF content.

Will frozen panes affect the output?

No, frozen panes are a viewing convenience in Excel — they do not affect printing or PDF export. The output uses whatever print area you set, with headers repeated on each page if you configured "Print Titles" in Page Layout > Page Setup > Sheet. To get a repeating header row in your PDF, set the rows to repeat in Excel's Page Setup before converting.

Does it handle macros or VBA code?

No, and that is intentional. Macros (.xlsm files, or .xlsx files with VBA modules) are not executed during the conversion — the rendering is based on the static state of the workbook as saved. This is a security choice; running arbitrary VBA on the server would be a major attack surface. If your spreadsheet relies on macros to populate cells, run the macros in Excel first, save the resulting values, and upload the static workbook for conversion.

Will gridlines appear in the PDF?

By default the converter follows the print settings in the source file. In Excel, gridlines appear in print only if Page Layout > Sheet Options > Gridlines > Print is checked. If you want gridlines visible in the PDF, check that box, save, and re-upload. If you do not want them, uncheck it. Same goes for row and column headers (A, B, C / 1, 2, 3) — the Print checkbox under Headings controls whether they appear in the PDF.

How are merged cells handled?

Merged cells render correctly in the PDF — the content spans the merged region as it does in Excel, and any borders or fill colors apply to the merged area as a single unit. Heavily merged layouts (titles spanning many columns, complex tabular headers) usually look right in the output. Conditional formatting on merged cells also carries through. If you see a layout glitch, check that the merge in Excel is using "Merge & Center" (not "Merge Across") for the cleanest result.

Can I get one PDF page per sheet regardless of length?

Only if each sheet's print area fits on one page. By default, LibreOffice respects whatever print area and page-fit settings are in the source. To force one page per sheet, go to Page Layout > Scale to Fit > Width and Height both set to 1 page in Excel, save, and re-upload. The content will be scaled down to fit. For very dense sheets this can make text tiny; use it judiciously.

Excel to PDF Converter

Convert .xlsx, .xls, .csv, or .ods spreadsheets to PDF. Each sheet renders to its own page or pages.

Uploaded to our server over TLS·auto-deleted in 10 minutes.

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Files are processed on our secure server and automatically deleted after 10 minutes. Max file size: 50.0 MB.

Spreadsheets do not survive being emailed around as raw .xlsx files — recipients open them in different versions of Excel (or LibreOffice, or Google Sheets, or Numbers), columns reflow, conditional formatting renders differently, and your carefully designed monthly summary turns into noise. PDF fixes that. This tool uploads your spreadsheet to a server in Germany (Hetzner data center) running LibreOffice Calc, which lays each sheet out using whatever print settings the source file specified (or sensible defaults if none are set), and renders the result as PDF. Cell colors, fonts, borders, conditional formatting, and charts all carry through. The file is deleted from the server within 10 minutes of completion. The trade-off is that wide sheets may break across multiple pages if you did not set a print area — the how-to below explains how to set one, and the FAQ covers the format-specific gotchas (date columns in CSV, Apple Numbers exports, embedded charts).

How to excel to pdf converter

Upload your spreadsheet

.xlsx, .xls, .csv, and .ods all work. Drag and drop or click to browse.
Wait for the conversion

LibreOffice Calc opens the file, applies the print settings, and renders each sheet to its own page or pages.
Download the PDF

Output is a multi-page PDF with one section per sheet. Sheet names are not included by default — you can add them as headers in Excel before converting.
Open and verify

Check that wide sheets did not break in awkward places. If they did, set a print area in Excel (Page Layout > Print Area > Set Print Area) and re-convert.

Features

Multiple sheets handled

Each sheet in your workbook renders into its own section of the output PDF. So a workbook with three sheets (Summary, Details, Notes) gives you a PDF where pages 1-2 are Summary, pages 3-5 are Details, and so on. The order is the same as the tab order in Excel. To skip a sheet in the conversion, hide it in Excel first (right-click tab > Hide) — hidden sheets are not exported by LibreOffice. Veryhidden sheets (set via VBA) are also skipped.

Formatting preserved

Cell colors, font choices, font sizes, bold/italic, borders, fill patterns, conditional formatting — all carry through. Number formats (currency symbols with the right locale, dates in the chosen format, percentages, scientific notation) render exactly as they were in Excel. Charts and embedded images render as their last-cached visual state. The output looks like a printed copy of your spreadsheet, except crisp and selectable as text where the cells contained text.

CSV with basic table layout

CSV files (which have no formatting metadata) get a simple readable table layout: even column widths, header row in bold, alternating row shading. If you want nicer formatting from a CSV, open it in Excel first, format it however you like (set column widths, apply conditional formatting, mark date columns as Date), save as .xlsx, and re-upload. CSV-as-source is fine for raw data dumps but limited for presentation — the lack of formatting metadata in the source is the bottleneck, not the converter.

Wide sheets honored

Wide spreadsheets (lots of columns) get split across multiple PDF pages based on the print area you set in Excel. If you did not set a print area, the renderer uses a default A4 layout and splits columns at the page boundary, which can cut tables awkwardly. For full control, open the spreadsheet in Excel, go to Page Layout > Print Area > Set Print Area, choose landscape orientation if needed, optionally use Scale to Fit > 1 page wide, save, and re-upload here.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my wide sheet getting cut off?

Because no print area was set in the source file, so the renderer defaulted to A4 portrait and your columns spilled over. The fix is to open the spreadsheet in Excel (or LibreOffice, or Google Sheets), set the print area to include the columns you want, switch to landscape orientation, optionally apply Scale to Fit > 1 page wide, and re-save. Then re-upload here. Excel's Page Layout tab is where these settings live; LibreOffice's equivalent is under Format > Print Ranges.

Will my charts come through?

Yes. Embedded charts render in the PDF at their cached size and position. They are not interactive in the PDF (you cannot hover for tooltips), but visually they look the same as in Excel. Pivot tables are rendered as flat tables in their last-refreshed state — so if you have not refreshed a pivot recently, the PDF shows stale data. Refresh in Excel (right-click pivot > Refresh) before converting.

Why does my date column show as numbers?

Because the source file is CSV and CSV does not carry cell formatting metadata. A date in CSV is just text — "2025-01-15" or "45123" (the serial number Excel uses internally). The fix is to open the CSV in Excel, format the column as Date (right-click column > Format Cells > Date), save as .xlsx, and re-upload. Dates will then render as dates in the PDF.

Does it support Apple Numbers files?

.numbers files are not supported directly. Numbers uses a proprietary format that LibreOffice does not read. The workaround is to export from Numbers as .xlsx or .csv first (File > Export To > Excel), then upload here. Numbers' export is usually clean for typical spreadsheets — column widths, formatting, and formula results carry through to Excel format, and then through this tool to PDF.

Where does my file go?

Uploaded over HTTPS to our server in Germany. The file is processed in a temp directory by LibreOffice Calc, the output PDF is sent back to your browser, and both input and output are deleted from the server within 10 minutes by a janitor process. Nothing is logged about file contents, no copies are retained, and no analytics track the operation. The same flow applies to all server-side tools on the site.

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