Convert Excel files to XML and vice versa

Something about Excel and XML

So, before you learn how to open, create, or convert an XML file to Excel and back, let's take a closer look at the types of these files. Here it is necessary to immediately note that Excel documents have many formats, while XML is the file format. Therefore, do not confuse these two concepts.

Microsoft Excel is a powerful computational program with many useful functions.

Microsoft Excel is a special utility designed to create and edit tables. With them, you can already do anything: create databases, charts, formulas and other data types. This is a very powerful tool, so we will not discuss all its possibilities. Today our goal is somewhat different, and we will not deviate from the topic of today's discussion.

XML files, for simpler understanding, are intended for storing and exchanging various data between utilities. Especially often use this markup language when transmitting information over the Internet. And when you need to transfer tabular data from Excel to a site, for example, then you will need to convert your document so that it is displayed correctly. Therefore, let's not delay the moment of truth and immediately proceed to the operation.

How to convert Excel to XML

Dear friends, in fact, file conversion is quite simple. However, some users may have problems with the data transfer, so today we will consider several ways to implement our plan. Therefore, we gain patience and proceed to action:

  1. The easiest way that may not work in some cases is to save the file in the required format in Microsoft Excel itself. To do this, open the required document in this application. Then click on the "File" button (viewed with the example of Office 2013, in other versions the saving process may differ slightly) in the upper left corner of the Excel window, then the "Save As" option, then select the location to save the document, give it a name and in the tab file type, specify "XML data". After that, check if everything worked out right. If not, try the following methods.
  2. So, if an error occurs in the previous case, then perhaps your copy of the program does not provide support and the corresponding add-ins. To install them, go to the Microsoft website //www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=3108, download and install this file to your computer or laptop. Next, start the Microsoft Excel program and click on the large colored button in the upper left corner of the application window (here we are already looking at an example on the 2007 version). In the block that appears, click on the parameters to the left of the exit from the utility. Now go to the add-ons and click on the button "Go" in front of the item "Management". A dialog box pops up where you need to click on the review and find the document that you downloaded from the Microsoft website earlier. Now click OK and go to the main program window, where you now have the XML Tools tab - with it, you can now easily create an XML file from an existing table. Save it as you need in the previous paragraph.
  3. If you don’t want to load yourself and your computer with such information at all, you can resort to using special utility converters or online versions of these programs. For example, you can download the Format Factory application, which will allow you to perform all the necessary actions. But it is worth remembering that the files saved and converted in this way do not always work in the future. That is, during an operation, sectors or areas in the document's memory may be damaged, which will negatively affect it - it simply may not open in an XML editor, for example. Therefore, it is recommended to use either professional software or Microsoft Excel itself.

How to convert XML to Excel

Before you convert XML to Excel, you need to open it first. Consider the whole of this short process below. So, we proceed:

  1. Start Microsoft Excel using a shortcut on the desktop or through the explorer menu.
  2. Click on “Open other books” at the bottom of the main page if you are using Office. In other versions, the process may be slightly different.
  3. Next, click on "Computer" or another place where your XML file is located, then click on "Browse" and change the data type to "XML Files" in the window that appears.
  4. Now we are looking for the necessary file and open it in our program using the button of the same name.
  5. Next, we discuss how to convert our document. Go to the developer tab, then click on the import button.
  6. In the window that opens, you will need to find and select again our document, on which you want to perform the action, then click on the “Import” button.
  7. Then customize everything for yourself: the area to import, save location and other parameters. Then you will receive a table that you can later save in the format you need. As you can see, there is nothing complicated.

Let's sum up

Dear readers, today we have learned not only how to convert XML files to Excel and vice versa, but also how to create and open them with incompatibility of versions. We hope that you have succeeded and no more questions remain. Do not forget to share in the comments your opinions and experiences: perhaps you know a simple way to convert. Tell other users if you can translate one type of document. If it worked, then share how you used it.