How to convert an Excel spreadsheet to PDF
A spreadsheet sent as a PDF opens identically on any machine and cannot be edited by accident, which is why invoices, price lists and reports are usually shared that way. The hard part of converting a spreadsheet is the width: this guide explains how the layout works so the right-hand columns do not disappear.
Updated September 15, 20264 min read
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How to convert Excel to PDF, step by step
There is nothing to configure, and the spreadsheet is not uploaded to convert it.
- Open Excel to PDF and add an .xlsx, .xls or .csv file.
- Run the tool. Every sheet in the workbook is converted, not only the one that was open when the file was saved.
- Download the PDF and check that each sheet reads the way you expect.
How the pages are laid out
Pages are landscape by default, because tables are wide and a portrait page cuts off the right-hand columns. Column widths follow the content rather than being split evenly, so a long description column does not end up the same width as a one-digit quantity column.
Each worksheet starts on its own page. A very wide sheet is laid out across several pages instead of being shrunk until nobody can read it.
What does not survive
The data and the sheet structure come across; the styling is simplified. Conditional formatting, charts and elaborate cell styling are not reproduced, because what is rebuilt is the content rather than the look of a particular spreadsheet application. If a chart has to appear in the PDF, export that sheet to PDF from the spreadsheet application and combine the files with Merge PDF.