3 April 2020

Converting Google Sheets to Excel

Megan Casey Microsoft 365, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, Office 365

Google Sheets can be handy for sharing and working on spreadsheet files with other people, but sometimes you just really need that file in Excel. No problem – it’s actually really easy to convert them. All you have to do is download the file and save it as an Excel file.

If the Google Sheets File is Open

If you have your Google Sheets file open, just go to File | Download, and choose Microsoft Excel (.xslx), then save the file wherever you want.

From Google Drive

You don’t actually have to open the file to download it as an Excel file. In fact it’s an even simpler process if you download it straight from the file listing in Google Drive. Just right-click on the file you want to convert and click Download. In this case it will automatically download it as an Excel file, no need to select anything.

Open the File

You can then just open the file on your computer, and it will look like any other Excel file, with all the features, formatting and charts included. There may be some small visual differences such as charts looking slightly different or cells not being expanded, but all the data should be there and correct.

Like any other file from the internet, the Excel file will open in Safe Mode, and you will need to click the Enable Editing button to be able to edit the file. Then you can carry on working on the file in Excel.