01
ADD YOUR XLS
Drop the XLS file into the box above or choose it from your device.
XLS → XML / online converter
XLS to XML Converter
Convert an Excel 97-2003 sheet to XML. Each row becomes a <row> element and each header cell a child tag.
01 / how to
How to convert XLS to XML
02
CONVERT TO XML
XML is already selected. Press Convert and wait a few seconds.
03
DOWNLOAD
Save the finished XML file. The original is deleted from our server.
02 / what you get
What happens to your data
Kept
- Rows of the first sheet, with the first row used as the header
- Dates become readable text, for example 2026-01-15
- Formulas are exported as the result they last calculated
- A valid XML file: <root> with one <row> per record, and special characters like & and < escaped
Good to know
- Only the first sheet is converted. Move the sheet you need to the front in Excel first.
- Colors, fonts, merged cells, charts and images are not part of the data and are dropped.
- Password-protected workbooks cannot be opened.
- The tags are always <root> and <row>, and field names are made valid (spaces and symbols become underscores). Rename them in a text editor if your system expects other names.
03 / formats
XLS vs XML
XLS
An XLS file is the older Excel workbook format (Excel 97-2003). It still turns up in old exports and archives. Converting it gives you the first sheet as plain data (JSON keeps every sheet), or a modern XLSX.
Used in: Legacy Excel files · Old exports · Archives
XML
An XML (Extensible Markup Language) file stores structured data using custom, nested tags, similar to HTML. It's verbose but strict, which makes it reliable for automated systems — common in enterprise software, government forms, and legacy data exports.
Used in: Enterprise systems · Government forms · Legacy data exports
04 / more
More conversions
Have a different file? Open the main converter — it detects the format for you.