All About Excel Files (Types, Extensions, Open, Merge, Etc. )

What Are the Available File Types That Are Supported in Excel?

Excel supports 3 file formats. Their names, extensions, and details are in separate lists below.

1.1 Excel Files Format

1.2 Text Format

1.3 Other File Formats

1.4 File Formats That Use Clipboard

The Microsoft Office Clipboard supports the following listed file formats. You can paste data from this clipboard to Excel easily.

1.5 File Formats That Are Not Supported in Excel

The file formats that are not supported in Excel are listed below with extensions and details.

1.6 How to Open or View Unsupported File Formats in Excel?

• To open or view unsupported file formats in Excel, search file format converters online for file types that Excel does not support.
• Use the converter to export into a file format that Excel supports.

2. Overview of Excel File Extensions

Each format and extension differs from others in different criteria.

2.1 Differences Between xlsx vs. xls Format

• The .xls file is larger than the .xlsx file.

• The row and column numbers are also significantly different. The .xls file has a row limit of 65,536 (216) and 256 columns (IV).

• The .xlsx file has a row limit of 1,048,576 rows (220) and 16,384 columns (214) or column XFD.

2.2 Differences Between xlsx vs. xlsb Formats

2.3 How to Check the Excel File Extension

• Click on the File tab.
• Click on the Save As pane to see the file extension in the marked box.
• The file has a .xlsx extension.

2.4 How to Change the Excel File Extension

• Follow the steps above and click on the arrow beside the file extension.
• You can change the file type from the dropdown menu.
• Choose your desired extension and click on Save.

2.5 How to Save Macro-Enabled Files in Excel

• Choose Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook(.xlsm) from the dropdown.
• Click the Save icon.
  

3. How to Open Excel Files

• Select any Excel file on your PC.
• Right-click on the file and select Open from the context menu.
• Select Excel from the side menu.

3.1 How to Open Multiple Excel Files at Once in One Click

• Put the files that you want to open with a click in a folder on your PC.

• In Excel, click on the File tab from the Excel ribbon.

• Select Options from the side menu bar.

• Go back to the folder and copy the address.

• Go to the Advanced >> General. Paste the address in the At startup, open all files input box.

• If you open the Excel app, it will open the files in that folder automatically.

Click on this image for a better view

3.2 How to Open Two Excel Files Side by Side

• Open two Excel files.

• Go to the View tab of any of the Excel files.
• Click the View Side by Side option in the Window group.

• You’ll see the files get positioned like the following image.

4. How to Combine/Merge Multiple Excel Files

The following image shows that we have two Excel files in a folder named 1. January_Data and 2. February_Data.

In 1. January_Data, we have Product ID, Product Name, Purchase Date, Price, and Payment Method of a few items for January.

You have another file named 2. February_Data contains similar data in the same format for February.

• In the first January_Data file, change the dataset into a table using the Ctrl+T shortcut.

• Select the table and rename it as Payment_Data.

• Do the same for the file February_Data.

• Open a blank Excel workbook and click on the Data
• Go to Get Data >> From File >> From Folder.

• Select the New Folder and click on Open.

• Click Combine and select Combine & Load from the dropdown menu.

• You’ll get your common table name.
• Select that and click on OK.

• The data in two Excel files will be combined into one Excel file.

5. How to Use Excel AutoSave

5.1 Turn On AutoSave in Excel

• Go to File >> Options >> Save.
• In the Save section, under Save Workbooks check the tick mark on the AutoSave files stories in the Cloud by default in Excel.
• Click the OK button.

• It will save the file automatically in the AutoRecover file location.

5.2 Change AutoSave Time in Excel

• Check the tick mark on the Save AutoRecover information every and set the time of your preference.
• In the following image, we set the time to every 10 minutes.

5.3 Turn Off AutoSave in Excel

• Click on the circle beside AutoSave on the Quick Access Toolbar.

• You’ll see color changing, which means it has been turned off.

5.4 Where Are Excel AutoSave Files Stored?

• Go to the File tab and click on Open.
• Double-click on the shared Onedrive.

• It will open the window containing the AutoSaved files.

6. How to Recover Excel Files

6.1 Recover Excel File After Crash

• Click on the File tab and then go to Open >> Recent >> Workbooks.
• At the bottom, you will see Recover Unsaved Workbooks.

Click on this image to have a better view

• Click on that and it will open a folder on your PC. You will get the crashed Excel files there.

6.2 Recover a Corrupted Excel File

• Click on File >> Open >> Browse.

• Write the corrupted file name in the File name box. Change the file type to All Files.
• Select Open and Repair from the Open dropdown menu.

• It will repair and open the corrupted file.

6.3 Recover a Previous Version of an Excel File

• Click the File tab and select Info.
• Click the Version History.

• You will see the previous versions of that file.
• You can recover your desired file.

6.4 How to Find Excel Backup Files

• Go to File >> Open >> Recent in Excel.
• In the Workbooks click on the Recover Unsaved Workbooks.

• The Document Recovery You will find the backup files there.

7. How to Reduce Excel File Size

7.1 Reduce Excel File Size Without Opening It

• We have an Excel file named Excel Files.

• We will select the file and right-click on it.
• Click Properties from the context menu.

• In the Excel File Properties window, click Advanced.

• Then, in the Advanced Attributes window, turn on the Compress contents to save disk space check box and click OK.

• As a result, you will see the compressed file icon on the Excel file.

7.2 Reduce Excel File Size Without Deleting Data

• Go to File >> Save As and change the file type to CSV UTF-8 (Comma Delimited) (*.csv).

• You will see the file size reduced significantly.

7.3 How to Determine What is Causing Large Excel File Size

• Click on the Review tab and select Workbook Statistics from the Proofing
• It’s showing 3 sheets in Workbook Statistics. But only two sheets are visible. This means we have a hidden sheet in the workbook.

• Right-click on any Sheet tab and select Unhide from the context menu.

• You will see a dialog box with the title Unhide one or more sheets. Select the hidden sheets and Unhide them.

• You can see the Sheet3 visible in the Sheet tab.

7.4 Compress Excel Files for Email

• Select the file and right-click on it.
• Choose Compress to ZIP file from the context menu.

• You will get a zipped version of the same Excel file beside the main file.

8. How to Speed Up Excel

8.1 How to Make Excel Open Faster

• Click the File tab and go to Options >> Advanced.
• Select Use all processors in this computer.
• This will make your Excel open faster.

8.2 How to Open Large Excel Files Without Crashing

• Open Excel Options from File >> Options.
• Click the Add-ins, choose COM Add-ins and Go.

• Uncheck all the Add-ins and click OK.

• It will open large files without crashing.

8.3 How to Stop Calculating Threads in Excel

• Open Excel Options by clicking on File >> Options.
• Go to Formulas, and in Calculation Options, choose Manual. This will stop calculating threads in Excel.

9. How to Encode Excel Files

9.1 Encode File to UTF-8 in Excel

• Click the File tab and go to the Backstage View.
• Select Save As and choose CSV UTF-8 (Comma Delimited) (*.csv) file format.
• Click on Save and the file will be encoded.

9.2 Check Encoding of Excel Files

• Go to the Save As option and you can see the file extension.
• You will know the encoding of Excel files.

10. What to Do If Excel Files Are Not Opening?

10.1 Why Are My Excel Files Not Opening?

• You have an Excel file.

• Try to open it with Excel, it opens in Notepad.

• Right-click on the file and choose Open with >> Excel from the context menu.

10.2 Excel File Open but Not Visible

• Open the Excel file, and it does not show any data.

• Go to the View tab and click on Window, it will show the hidden workbook.

10.3 Excel File Opens Blank Grey Screen

• Go to File and open Excel Options.
• In the Advanced >> General section, uncheck the Ignore other options that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) option and click OK.

• You can open the file resolving the gray screen issue.

11. How to Protect Your Excel Files

• Click on the Review tab and choose Protect Sheet.

• Put a password in the input box.

• Reenter the password to confirm.

• You can also Unprotect Sheet using the same way.

⏷Available File Types Supported in Excel
  ⏵Excel Files Format
  ⏵Text Format
  ⏵Other File Formats
  ⏵File Formats That Use Clipboard
  ⏵File Formats Not Supported in Excel
  ⏵Open or View Unsupported File Formats
⏷Overview of Excel File Extensions
  ⏵Difference Between Xlsx Vs Xls Format
  ⏵Difference Between Xlsx Vs Xlsb Format
  ⏵Check Excel File Extension
  ⏵Change Excel File Extension
  ⏵Save Macro Enabled File
⏷Open Excel Files
  ⏵Open Multiple Files in One Click
  ⏵Open Two Files Side By Side
⏷Combine/Merge Multiple Files
⏷Using Excel AutoSave
  ⏵Turn On AutoSave
  ⏵Change AutoSave Time
  ⏵Turn Off AutoSave
  ⏵Where AutoSave Files Are Stored
⏷Recover Excel Files
  ⏵Recover File After Crash
  ⏵Recover Corrupted File
  ⏵Recover Previous Version Of File
  ⏵Find Excel Backup Files
⏷Reduce Excel File Size
  ⏵Reduce Excel File Size Without Opening
  ⏵Reduce File Size Without Deleting Data
  ⏵Determine Cause of Large Excel File Size
  ⏵Compress Excel File for Email
⏷Speed Up Excel
  ⏵Make Excel Open Faster
  ⏵Open Large Files without Crashing
  ⏵Stop Calculating Threads in Excel
⏷Encode Excel Files
  ⏵Encode file to UTF-8 in Excel
  ⏵Check Encoding Of Excel File
⏷Excel Files Are Not Opening
  ⏵Excel Not Opening Files
  ⏵Excel File Open But Not Visible
  ⏵Excel File Opens Blank Grey Screen
⏷Protect Your Excel Files

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