7 Differences Between XLS and XLSX & 3 Ways to Convert Between

This article composed byMiniTool companycompares XLSX and XLS two spreadsheet file formats and lists their differences in 7 aspects.

Just get the details below!

About XLS and XLSX

XLS refers to Excel spreadsheet.

XLS format is known as the Binary Interchange File Format (BIFF).

While XLSX is a Microsoft spreadsheet designed for not only Windows but also MacOS, iOS, and Android.

Both XLS and XLSX files areMicrosoft Excel spreadsheetsusually applied for saving financial data and creating mathematical models.

convert xlsx to xls by Excel

What is the difference between XLS and XLSX?

Lets see below contents.

XLSX vs XLS: Storage

XLS is based on BIFF and its information is saved to a binary format.

change xlsx to xls with Excel save as

.XLS vs .XLSX: File Size

The Office XML Format uses ZIP and compression technologies for data storage.

So, the Office XML format based XLSX has smaller file size than the traditional binary based XLS.

For compatibility, XLS has higher compatibility than XLSX.

XLS is readable by all Microsoft Excel versions while XLSX is only readable by Excel 2007 and later versions.

.DOC vs. .DOCX, what are the differences?

How to convert DOCX to DOC or convert DOC to DOCX?

Excel XLS vs XLSX: Availability

XLS is a proprietary file format while XLSX is open and royalty-free.

The Office XML Format are based on XML and ZIP technologies.

Thus, they are universally accessible.

This can help reduce the risk of data loss due to damaged or corrupted files.

XLSX improves data recovery by segmenting and separately saving each part within the file package.

This has the potential to store company tremendous amounts of money and time spentrecovering lost data.

When one file component is corrupt, the remainder of the file is still open within the utility.

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XLSX can also help to improve security against documents with embedded code or macros.

By default, Office 2007 (including Excel 2007, Word 2007, PowerPoint 2007, etc.)

file formats dont execute embedded code.

In general, there are three ways tochange XLSX to XLS.

Also, it enables you to switch from XLSX to XLS or vice versa.

Finally, click theSavebutton to save the changes.

On the contrary, it’s possible for you to use the same steps to convert XLS to XLSM.