Excel to PDF turns the sheets of an .xlsx, .xls or .csv file into a readable PDF table, without needing Excel installed. Choose which worksheets to include, then set the paper size, orientation and margins before the PDF is built in your browser. The original workbook is only read, and your file is never uploaded.
How to convert Excel to PDF
- Drop your workbook onto the tool or click Choose file. It accepts .xlsx, .xls and .csv files up to 20 MB.
- Check the sheet list. Every sheet is selected by default, so clear the boxes for any sheet you do not want. Empty sheets are left out of the PDF.
- Choose A4 or Letter, then pick Auto, Portrait or Landscape for the orientation. Set a margin, font size, and whether to include gridlines and repeat the header row.
- Click the Save … as PDF button. The progress bar shows each sheet as it is measured, laid out and drawn.
- Download the PDF. It is named after your workbook, and the original file is not changed.
How sheets become tables
A PDF has no concept of cells, so the tool rebuilds the grid rather than taking a screenshot. It reads each cell's displayed value, converts it to text, and drops blank rows and unused outer columns. The first non-empty row is treated as the header.
Each column is measured against its longest text, then the table is scaled to the printable width. Long text wraps onto more lines and each row grows to fit. The output is a real text PDF: sharp at any zoom and searchable.
Choosing sheets, page size and orientation
Each selected sheet starts on a new page and continues onto as many pages as it needs. Sheet order is preserved, and the footer shows the sheet name and page number.
- A4 is 210 × 297 mm, the usual paper size in most countries. Letter is 8.5 × 11 inches.
- Auto orientation makes a landscape page when a sheet has more than six columns, and a portrait page otherwise. Portrait and Landscape force every page the same way.
- Margins of 0, 10 or 20 mm control the white border. A 10 mm margin is a safe choice for most printers.
- Font size starts at 8, 9 or 10 pt. A wide sheet may be reduced below that to fit; the smallest size is 5 pt.
- Gridlines draw a light border around every cell. They are added by the PDF, not copied from Excel.
- Repeat header row uses the first row as a heading at the top of every page. It is most useful for long lists.
What is preserved
The tool keeps cell text, row and column order, sheet names and sheet order, plus the displayed formatting of numbers and dates. A cell showing £1,200.00 or 06/11/2026 keeps that wording. The first row is drawn with a light fill and bold text as the header.
What is not preserved
This is a table conversion, not a visual copy of the workbook. Fonts, colours, borders, fills, bold or italic text, alignment and conditional formatting are not carried over. Charts, images, shapes, comments, hyperlinks and sparklines are not included. Formulas are not recalculated; the value last saved by Excel is shown, and a formula cell without a saved result may appear blank.
Merged cells are not recreated: their value usually appears in the first cell and the merged layout is lost. Print areas, page breaks, freeze panes, filters, grouping, data validation, pivot tables and macros are ignored. Hidden rows and columns are included if they contain data.
The PDF uses a standard Latin font. Characters outside that set, such as Chinese, Arabic, Cyrillic or emoji, may appear as a question mark. Accented Western European letters usually survive.
Wide sheets and pagination
Column widths come from the content and are capped so one long note cannot take over the page. If the table is wider than the printable area, the font shrinks proportionally to 5 pt, then columns are squeezed and text wraps. Cells are not clipped, but dozens of columns can still be hard to read on paper. Splitting the data across sheets or removing unused columns gives a better result.
Rows are kept together where they fit. A row taller than a page is split by text line so nothing is dropped. When Repeat header row is on, the header is drawn again after each page break. Footers show the sheet name and page number.
When to use it
Use Excel to PDF when you want a clean, readable table to print, email or attach to a report, and you do not need the recipient to have Excel. It suits price lists, timetables, inventory sheets, simple financial tables and one-off snapshots of data.
It is not the right tool for an exact visual copy, charts and images, or editable formulas. If appearance matters, export to PDF from Excel itself. If you need spreadsheet data back, use PDF to Excel.
Privacy
Your workbook is opened, read and converted entirely in your browser. It is never uploaded and there is no account or sign-in. The PDF is built in memory and saved through your browser's normal download process. Closing the tab releases the workbook, and the original file is never modified.
Related PDF tools
- To go the other way, use PDF to Excel.
- To turn a Word document into a PDF instead, use Word to PDF.
- To combine this PDF with other documents, use Merge PDF.
- To make the finished file smaller, use Compress PDF.
Excel to PDF FAQ
Is my spreadsheet uploaded anywhere?
No. The workbook is read by JavaScript in your browser and the PDF is created on your device. Nothing is sent to a server, so private financial or business data stays private.
Does it work with .xls and .csv files?
Yes. It accepts .xlsx, .xls and .csv files up to 20 MB. A CSV file normally opens as a single sheet, while an Excel workbook can contain several sheets.
Are formulas calculated in the PDF?
No. The tool does not calculate formulas. It uses the last value saved in the file, so a formula cell may be blank if the workbook was never saved with a result. Open and save it in Excel first if needed.
Can I convert only one sheet?
Yes. Every sheet is selected when the workbook opens, but you can clear individual checkboxes. At least one sheet with data must remain selected before the save button becomes available.
Why is the text so small?
A sheet with many columns is scaled down so the whole table fits the page width. Choose landscape, remove unused columns, or split the data across sheets. Very wide tables may still be hard to read at 5 pt.
Are charts and images included?
No. Only cell values become part of the PDF. Charts, pictures, shapes and other drawing objects are not rendered, so a workbook that relies on a chart will lose that chart in the conversion.
Are merged cells preserved?
No. The value from a merged range usually appears once, in its first cell, and the merge itself is not recreated. The surrounding cells may therefore look empty compared with the original sheet.
Is there a file size limit?
Yes. The maximum is 20 MB. Very large workbooks can still take a while and use a lot of memory, so keep the tab open while the PDF is built. A computer handles a large file better than a phone.