How to Open an ODS File on PC or Mac

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: November 10, 2018 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to open, view, and edit an OpenOffice spreadsheet (ODS) file, using Microsoft Excel on a desktop computer.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Opening With Excel

1
Find the ODS file you want to open on your computer. Browse your files, and locate where you saved the ODS file.
2
Right-click the ODS file. This will open your right-click options on a pop-up menu.

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3
Click Open with on the right-click menu. This will open a list of your available applications in a new pop-up window, and allow you to select any one of them to open this file.
- If you've opened an ODS file before, a sub-menu of recommended apps may pop up when you hover over Open with. In this case, you can select an app from the list here.
4
Select Microsoft Excel from the list of applications. Excel allows you to open, view, and edit ODS files.
5
Hit ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return on your keyboard. This will open the selected ODS file in Excel.

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Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Converting to XLS

1
Open your internet browser. You can use any browser, such as Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Opera.
2
Go to ConvertFiles.com in your browser. Type www.convertfiles.com into the address bar, and hit ↵ Enter or ⏎ Return on your keyboard.
- This is a third-party website that allows you to upload and convert your files to a different format. It's not associated with Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice.
3
Click the Browse button next to "Choose a local file." This option lets you upload a file from your computer, and convert it to a different format. You can find it in the green box with the "Select a file to convert" heading.
4
Select the ODS file you want to convert. Browse your files in the file navigator window, and click the ODS file you want to convert to XLS.
5
Click Open in the file navigator window. This will upload the selected ODS file to the converter website.
6
Click the selector bar next to "Input format" in the green area. This will open a list of all the file formats this website can process and convert.
7
Select OpenOffice ODF Spreadsheet (.ods) as your input format. This field should match the correct format of the document you're uploading.
8
Click the selector bar next to "Output format" in the green area. This will open a drop-down list of all the available file formats.
9
Select MS Excel 97/2000/XP (.xls) as your output format. This option will convert your uploaded ODS file to XLS, which you can open in Excel.
10
Click the Convert button. This button is located below the Input format box. It will upload your ODS file to the website, and convert it to an XLS file.
11
Click the Click here to go to the download page button. When your file is successfully converted, you will see this button on your screen. It will give you a download link to the converted file.
12
Click the download link. This will automatically start the download, and save the converted XLS file to your browser's default folder for downloads.
- If you don't have a default folder set for downloads, you will be prompted to select a saving location.

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About This Article

Co-authored by:

wikiHow Staff Writer

This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 43,246 times.

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Co-authors: 3

Updated: November 10, 2018

Views: 43,246

Categories: Basic Computer Skills

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