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Culture Documents
matting and enables file sharing. When the PDF format file is viewed online or p
rinted, it retains the format that you intended. Data in the file cannot be easi
ly changed. The PDF format is also useful for documents that will be reproduced
by using commercial printing methods.
XPS Document .xps XML Paper Specification (XPS). This file format preserves docu
ment formatting and enables file sharing. When the XPS file is viewed online or
printed, it retains exactly the format that you intended, and the data in the fi
le cannot be easily changed.
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File formats that use the Clipboard
You can paste data from the Microsoft Office Clipboard into Excel by using the P
aste or Paste Special command (Home tab, Clipboard group, Paste button) if the O
ffice Clipboard data is in one of the following formats.
Format Extension Clipboard type identifiers
Picture .wmf or .emf Pictures in Windows Metafile Format (WMF) or Windows Enhanc
ed Metafile Format (EMF).
Note If you copy a Windows metafile picture from another program, Excel pastes
the picture as an enhanced metafile.
Bitmap .bmp Pictures stored in Bitmap format (BMP).
Microsoft Excel file formats .xls Binary file formats for Excel versions 5.0/95
(BIFF5), Excel 97-2003 (BIFF8), and Excel 2010 (BIFF12).
SYLK .slk Symbolic Link Format.
DIF .dif Data Interchange Format.
Text (tab-delimited) .txt Tab-separated text format.
CSV (Comma-delimited) .csv Comma-separated values format.
Formatted text (Space-delimited) .rtf Rich Text Format (RTF). Only from Excel.
Embedded object .gif, .jpg, .doc, .xls, or .bmp Microsoft Excel objects, object
s from properly registered programs that support OLE (OLE: A program-integration
technology that you can use to share information between programs. All Office p
rograms support OLE, so you can share information through linked and embedded ob
jects.) 2.0 (OwnerLink (OwnerLink: An OLE data format that describes an embedded
object, identifying the class, document name, and name of an object. Each of th
ese data items is a null-terminated string.)), and Picture or another presentati
on format.
Linked object .gif, .jpg, .doc, .xls, or .bmp OwnerLink, ObjectLink (ObjectLink:
An OLE data format that describes a linked object, identifying the class, docum
ent name, and name of an object. Each of these data items is a null-termina
ted string.), Link, Picture, or other format.
Office drawing object .emf Office drawing object format or Picture (Windows enha
nced metafile format, EMF).
Text .txt Display Text, OEM Text.
Single File Web Page .mht, .mhtml Single File Web Page (MHT or MHTML). This file
format integrates inline graphics, applets, linked documents, and other support
ing items referenced in the document.
Web Page .htm, .html Hypertext Markup Language (HTML).
Note When you copy text from another program, Excel pastes the text in HTML for
mat, regardless of the format of the original text.
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File formats that are not supported in Excel 2010
The following file formats are no longer supported in Excel 2010. You cannot ope
n or save files in these file formats.
Format Extension Clipboard type identifiers
Excel Chart .xlc Excel 2.0, 3.0, and 2.x file formats
WK1, FMT, WK2, WK3, FM3, WK4 .wk1, .wk2, .wk3, .wk4, .wks Lotus 1-2-3 file form
ats (all versions)
Microsoft Works .wks Microsoft Works file format (all versions)
DBF 2 .dbf DBASE II file format
WQ1 .wq1 Quattro Pro for MS-DOS file format
WB1, WB3 .wb1, .wb3 Quattro Pro 5.0 and 7.0 for Windows.
Tips for file formats that are not supported by Excel
If a file format that you want to use is not supported in Excel, you can try the
following:
Search the Web for a company that makes file format converters for file formats
that are not supported in Excel.
Save to a file format that another program supports. For example, you may want t
o import your spreadsheet into another program that does not support the Excel f
ile format. But the other program may be able to import another supported file f
ormat, such as an XML spreadsheet or a text file format. In this case, you can s
ave your workbook to the XML spreadsheet format, and then from the other program
, import the XML file.
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Formatting and features that are not transferred in Excel file format conversion
s
If you save a workbook in another file format, such as a text file format, some
of the formatting and data might be lost, and other features might not be suppor
ted.
The following file formats have feature and formatting differences as described.
File format Feature differences
Formatted Text (Space delimited) This file format (.prn) saves only the text and
values as they are displayed in cells of the active worksheet.
If a row of cells contains more than 240 characters, any characters beyond 240 w
rap to a new line at the end of the converted file. For example, if rows 1 throu
gh 10 each contain more than 240 characters, the remaining text in row 1 is plac
ed in row 11, the remaining text in row 2 is placed in row 12, and so on.
Columns of data are separated by commas, and each row of data ends in a carriage
return. If cells display formulas instead of formula values, the formulas are c
onverted as text. All formatting, graphics, objects, and other worksheet content
s are lost. The euro symbol will be converted to a question mark.
Note Before saving a worksheet in this format, make sure that all of the data t
hat you want converted is visible and that there is adequate spacing between the
columns. Otherwise, data may be lost or not properly separated in the converted
file. You may need to adjust the column widths of the worksheet before you conv
ert it to formatted text format.
Text (Tab delimited) This file format (.txt) saves only the text and values as t
hey are displayed in cells of the active worksheet.
Columns of data are separated by tab characters, and each row of data ends in a
carriage return. If a cell contains a comma, the cell contents are enclosed in d
ouble quotation marks. If the data contains a quotation mark, double quotation m
arks will replace the quotation mark, and the cell contents are also enclosed in
double quotation marks. All formatting, graphics, objects, and other worksheet
contents are lost. The euro symbol will be converted to a question mark.
If cells display formulas instead of formula values, the formulas are saved as t
ext. To preserve the formulas if you reopen the file in Excel, select the Delimi
ted option in the Text Import Wizard, and select tab characters as the delimiter
s.
Note If your workbook contains special font characters, such as a copyright sym
bol (), and you will be using the converted text file on a computer that has a di
fferent operating system, save the workbook in the text file format that is appr
opriate for that system. For example, if you are using Microsoft Windows and wan
t to use the text file on a Macintosh computer, save the file in the Text (Macin
tosh) format. If you are using a Macintosh computer and want to use the text fil
e on a system that is running Windows, save the file in the Text (Windows) forma
t.
Text (Unicode) This file format (.txt) saves all text and values as they appear
in cells of the active worksheet. However, if you open a file in Text (Unicode)
format by using a program that does not read Unicode, the data will be lost.
CSV (Comma delimited) This file format (.csv) saves only the text and values as
they are displayed in cells of the active worksheet. All rows and all characters
in each cell are saved. Columns of data are separated by commas, and each row o
f data ends in a carriage return. If a cell contains a comma, the cell contents
are enclosed in double quotation marks.
If cells display formulas instead of formula values, the formulas are converted
as text. All formatting, graphics, objects, and other worksheet contents are los
t. The euro symbol will be converted to a question mark.
Note If your workbook contains special font characters such as a copyright symb
ol (), and you will be using the converted text file on a computer that has a dif
ferent operating system, save the workbook in the text file format that is appro
priate for that system. For example, if you are using Windows and want to use th
e text file on a Macintosh computer, save the file in the CSV (Macintosh) format
. If you are using a Macintosh computer and want to use the text file on a syste
m that is running Windows or Windows NT, save the file in the CSV (Windows) form
at.
DIF (Data Interchange Format) This file format (.dif) saves only the text, value
s, and formulas on the active worksheet.
If worksheet options are set to display formula results in the cells, only the f
ormula results are saved in the converted file. To save the formulas, do the fol
lowing to display the formulas on the worksheet before you save the file.
On the File tab, click Options.
Click Advanced, and then under Display options for this worksheet, select the Sh
ow formulas in cells instead of their calculated results check box.
Column widths and most number formats are saved, but all other formats are lost.
Page setup settings and manual page breaks are lost.
Cell comments, graphics, embedded charts, objects, form controls, hyperlinks, da
ta validation settings, conditional formatting, and other worksheet features are
lost.
The data displayed in the current view of a PivotTable report is saved; all othe
r PivotTable data is lost.
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See Also
Use Office Excel 2010 with earlier versions of Excel