XLS to TXT Converter

Extract XLS spreadsheet data into plain text online

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Raw Data Extraction

Strip away all Excel formatting and pull pure data from your XLS file into a clean TXT that any system can process.

Cloud-Powered Speed

Conversion happens on remote servers — your computer does zero heavy lifting. Upload XLS, get TXT back in seconds.

Bulk Conversion

Need to convert dozens of XLS spreadsheets? Batch upload and convert them all to TXT in one go on convertio.tools.

How to convert XLS to TXT

1

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

2

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

3

Let the file convert and you can download your txt 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
TXT (Plain Text) is the most fundamental digital document format, storing unformatted text as a sequence of character codes with no embedded styling, layout instructions, or metadata beyond the characters themselves. The foundation of plain text computing traces to the ASCII standard published in 1963 by the American Standards Association (now ANSI), which defined 128 character codes including uppercase and lowercase Latin letters, digits, punctuation, and control characters. Modern plain text files typically use UTF-8 encoding, a variable-width Unicode scheme that encompasses virtually every writing system worldwide while maintaining backward compatibility with ASCII. Line endings vary by platform convention — LF on Unix/macOS, CR+LF on Windows — though most contemporary tools handle both transparently. One advantage is absolute universality — TXT files can be created, read, and edited on every computing device ever manufactured, from 1960s mainframes to modern smartphones, without any specialized software. The minimal overhead is another core strength: plain text carries zero formatting baggage, making TXT files ideal for configuration files, log output, data interchange, source code, scripts, and any context where content must be processed programmatically. Plain text serves as the substrate for structured formats like CSV, JSON, XML, YAML, and Markdown, and remains the input/output medium for virtually all command-line tools and programming environments. Despite decades of richer alternatives, TXT endures as the one truly universal document format.
Developer: ANSI
Initial release: 1963

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert XLS to TXT?

TXT is the simplest data format — converting gives you a lightweight file that any text editor or script can read without special software.

What programs open TXT files?

Notepad, TextEdit, VS Code, Sublime Text, Vim, nano — literally every operating system includes a built-in text editor for TXT files.

Are formulas kept in the TXT output?

Formulas are calculated and only their final values appear in the TXT. The raw formula expressions are not included in the export.

Does the conversion preserve structure?

Cell values are separated by delimiters (tabs or commas), so the tabular structure of your XLS data remains readable in the TXT output.

Is this conversion free on convertio.tools?

Yes — you can convert XLS to TXT at no cost. Premium plans are available for users who need higher volume or priority processing.

Can I convert several XLS files at once?

Upload multiple XLS spreadsheets in one session on convertio.tools and batch-convert them all to TXT simultaneously.

XLS to TXT Quality Rating

4.5 (3,443 votes)
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