When it comes to opening files in MS Excel online, it supports all the popular spreadsheet file extensions like the MS Excel desktop versions. However, some of the advanced features of Excel desktop might not always work in Excel online.
Apart from this, Excel online does not allow users to open existing Excel files directly from the devices. Instead, users must first upload the corresponding Excel files to the OneDrive and then open them using Excel online.
The following are some most popular files extensions that can be opened in MS Excel online:
| File Extension | File Format |
|---|---|
| XLS | Microsoft Excel’s workbook file (97-2003) |
| XLSX | Excel workbook |
| XLSM | Excel macro-enabled workbook |
| XLT | Excel template file (97-2003) |
| XLTX | Excel template |
| XLTM | Excel macro-enabled template |
| ODS | OpenDocument Spreadsheet |
| HTML | Hypertext Markup Language File |
| TAB | Tab-delimited text or data files |
| TSV | Tab-separated values |
| CSV | Comma-separated values |
| TXT | Text file |
On the other hand, MS Excel online only allows users to save/ download spreadsheet files in the XLSX extension and ODS extension. To save in other extensions, users must convert the downloaded files using the Excel desktop version or online converter tools like Zamzar, Online2pdf, Convertio, etc. The Excel desktop version allows saving files in different file types with the help of the ‘Save As‘ command, while the online converters automatically convert the selected files to the desired formats.