XLS to ODT Converter

Turn XLS spreadsheets into ODT text documents online

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Open Standard Format

Transform your XLS data into ODT — an open, vendor-neutral document format compatible with a wide range of free office suites.

Files Stay Private

Your XLS uploads are wiped immediately after processing. Converted ODT files are deleted within 24 hours from our servers.

Cross-Platform Access

Run the XLS to ODT conversion from any device with a browser — macOS, Windows, Linux, or mobile. No installs required.

How to convert XLS to ODT

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose odt or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your odt file right afterwards

About formats

XLS is the binary spreadsheet format of Microsoft Excel, first introduced with Excel 1.0 for Macintosh in September 1985 and becoming the dominant spreadsheet format worldwide. The format stores workbooks as OLE2 compound document files using the Binary Interchange File Format (BIFF), organizing sheets, cells, formulas, formatting, charts, pivot tables, macros, and metadata across multiple internal streams. Each cell record encodes the cell's value (number, string, boolean, error, or formula), position, and formatting index, while shared string tables and style records reduce redundancy. The format evolved through BIFF versions (BIFF2 through BIFF8), with BIFF8 (Excel 97) establishing the structure used through Excel 2003. XLS supports up to 65,536 rows and 256 columns per sheet, a limit that drove the creation of XLSX. One advantage is universal spreadsheet compatibility — XLS files are recognized by every major spreadsheet application including LibreOffice Calc, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers, and dozens of programming libraries across all platforms. The format's mature feature set is another strength: XLS handles complex formulas, conditional formatting, data validation, named ranges, array formulas, external references, and VBA macros. Although XLSX replaced XLS as the default in Office 2007, the binary format persists in financial institutions, legacy reporting systems, and any environment where Excel 97-2003 compatibility is required.
Developer: Microsoft
Initial release: September 1985
ODT (OpenDocument Text) is the word processing format defined by the OpenDocument Format (ODF) standard, developed by the OASIS technical committee and first published as ODF 1.0 on May 1, 2005, later adopted as international standard ISO/IEC 26300. An ODT file is a ZIP archive containing XML documents that describe text content, formatting styles, metadata, and settings using a vendor-neutral, royalty-free specification. The document body resides in content.xml with styling rules in styles.xml, while embedded images, fonts, and other resources are stored alongside in the package. The format supports rich word processing features including paragraph and character styles, tables, footnotes, tracked changes, table of contents generation, bibliography management, mail merge fields, and embedded vector and raster graphics. ODT serves as the native format for LibreOffice Writer, Apache OpenOffice Writer, and Calligra Words, and can be imported by Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and other commercial tools. One advantage is vendor independence — ODT is governed by an open standard rather than a single company, ensuring long-term document accessibility free from proprietary lock-in. This makes ODT particularly important for government agencies, educational institutions, and organizations with archival mandates. The XML-based architecture provides another strength, enabling programmatic document generation and processing using standard tools in any programming language.
Developer: OASIS
Initial release: May 1, 2005

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert XLS to ODT?

ODT is an open document standard — embedding your XLS tables in ODT ensures the document works in LibreOffice, OpenOffice, and other free editors.

What programs open ODT files?

LibreOffice Writer, Apache OpenOffice, Google Docs, Microsoft Word (2007+), and Calligra Words all support the ODT format natively.

Is my spreadsheet layout preserved?

Table structure, borders, and text formatting from XLS carry over into the ODT document, keeping your data organized and readable.

Is XLS to ODT conversion free?

Yes — convertio.tools handles XLS to ODT conversion at no charge. Premium plans unlock additional capabilities for power users.

Can I convert multiple files at once?

Absolutely. Upload a batch of XLS files and convert them all to ODT in one session on convertio.tools — no repeated uploads needed.

XLS to ODT Quality Rating

4.3 (417 votes)
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