Microsoft KB Archive/179886

= List of supported file formats in Excel 2000 =

Article ID: 179886

Article Last Modified on 10/5/2004

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Excel 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q179886





For a Microsoft Excel 2002 version of this article, see 291051.



SUMMARY
Microsoft Excel supports opening and saving files in many different file formats. This article contains a list of these file formats, including version numbers where applicable.



File Formats for Earlier Versions of Excel
The following table lists the supported file formats in which the entire Excel workbook is saved.

                                             File name extension Formats that save the entire workbook     (Windows only) -

Microsoft Excel Workbook                  .xls (Microsoft Excel 97-2000)

Template (Microsoft Excel 97-2000)        .xlt

Workspace (Microsoft Excel 97-2000)       .xlw

Microsoft Excel 97-2000 & 5.0/95 Workbook .xls

Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook           .xls

Microsoft Excel version 4.0 workbook      .xlw (saves only worksheets, chart sheets,  and macro sheets)

The following table lists the supported file formats in which only the active Excel worksheet is saved.

                                            File name extension Formats that save only the active sheet  (Windows only) -

Microsoft Excel version 4.0 sheet        .xls, .xlc, .xlm formats (including Microsoft Excel  macro or international macro sheets)

Microsoft Excel version 3.0 formats      .xls, .xlc, .xlm

Microsoft Excel version 2.x formats      .xls, .xlc, .xlm

File Formats for Lotus 1-2-3
When you open a .wk1 or .wk3 file in Microsoft Excel, Excel applies the formatting in the associated .fmt, .fm3, or .all file. If you save a Lotus 1-2-3 file in Microsoft Excel format, Microsoft Excel saves the spreadsheet data and formatting in a single workbook file.

The WK1 (1-2-3) (*.wk1) and WK3 (1-2-3) (*.wk3) formats save only limited worksheet formatting. To save a Microsoft Excel workbook in Lotus 1-2-3 format and retain borders, cell shading, fonts, and other formatting, select a Lotus 1-2-3 file format that stores formatting in a separate .fmt, .fm3, or .all file.

The following table lists supported Lotus 1-2-3 file formats.

  Lotus 1-2-3 file format     Version         Note --

WK4 (*.wk4)                4.0             Saves the entire workbook

WK3 (*.wk3)                3.x and         Saves only worksheets and WK3, FM3 (*.wk3)           Lotus 1-2-3/W   chart sheets

WK1 (*.wk1)                2.x             Saves only the active sheet

WK1 (FMT) (*.wk1)          1.0 and 1.0A    Saves only the active sheet WK1 (ALL) (*.wk1) WKS (FMT) (*.wks)

.PIC (when included in     3.x and Lotus   Open but cannot save this   an .All file)               1-2-3/W         format

Text File Formats
The following table lists the text formats that you can use to open and save files.

  Text file format                           Note

Formatted Text (Space-delimited) (*.prn)  Lotus space-delimited format. Saves only the active sheet.

Text (Tab-delimited) (*.txt) (Windows)    If you are saving a workbook Text (Macintosh)                          as a tab-delimited or comma- Text (OS/2 or MS-DOS)                     delimited text file for use CSV (comma delimited)(*.csv) (Windows)    under another operating CSV (Macintosh)                           system, select the CSV (OS/2 or MS-DOS)                      appropriate converter to                                              ensure that tab characters, line breaks, and other characters are interpreted correctly. Saves only the active sheet.

DIF (data interchange format) (*.dif)     Saves only the active sheet. SYLK (symbolic link format) (*.slk)       Saves only the active sheet.

IMPORTANT: If you save a workbook in text format, all formatting is lost.

Other Spreadsheet Programs and Databases
The following table lists the other file formats that Excel 2000 also supports.

 Format         Program                   Notes

DBF 2, DBF 3,  dBASE II, III,            Opens and saves only the DBF 4 (*.dbf)  and IV                    active worksheet

WQ1 (*.wq1)    Quattro Pro for           Opens and saves only the MS-DOS                   active worksheet

.wb1           Quattro Pro               Opens only version 5.0 for Windows

.wb3           Quattro Pro               Opens only and Converter version 7.0 for Windows  required**

.wks           Microsoft Works version   Opens only Microsoft Works 2.0 for Windows or       2.0 for Windows and Microsoft Works for      Microsoft Works for MS-DOS MS-DOS. spreadsheets.
 * Download the Quattro Pro 7.0 Converter from the Office Update Web site. Quattro Pro for Windows 8.0 wb3 files are not supported.

NOTE: Although Excel supports these file formats, certain features may not be available when you open or save files in these formats; for example, some file formats do not support embedded charts or formatted text.

Clipboard Formats
You can paste the following Clipboard formats into Microsoft Excel by using the Paste or Paste Special command on the Edit menu.   Format                       Notes

Picture                     Picture (Windows enhanced metafile, EMF) Note: If you copy a Windows metafile (WMF) picture from another program, Excel pastes the item as an EMF picture.

Bitmap                      Bitmap (BMP)

Microsoft Excel formats     Binary file formats for Excel versions 3.0, 4.0, 5.0/95, and 97-2000 (BIFF, BIFF3,                               BIFF4, BIFF5, and BIFF8)

Symbolic link format        SYLK

Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.x     .wk1 format

Data interchange format     .dif

Text (tab-delimited) format Text

Comma-separated values      .csv

Formatted text (only from   Rich Text Format (RTF)   Microsoft Excel)

Embedded Object             Excel objects, objects from properly registered programs that support OLE 2.0 (OwnerLink), and Picture or another presentation format

Linked object               OwnerLink, ObjectLink, Link, Picture, or                                other format

Office drawing object       Office drawing object format or picture (Windows enhanced metafile format, EMF)

Text                        Display Text, OEM Text

HTML                        .htm

NOTE: when you copy text from another program, Excel pastes the text in HTML format, regardless of the format of the original text.

Additional query words: XL2000

Keywords: kbinfo kbformat kbopenfile kbsavefile KB179886

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