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3. Convert Spreadsheet File Types

How to Convert Spreadsheet File Types

ByChaknith Bin

April 4, 2023

Updated  June 1, 2025

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Introduction

IronXL supports the conversion of spreadsheet files between various formats, including XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLTX, CSV, TSV, JSON, XML, and HTML. It also provides support for inline code data types such as HTML string, Binary, Byte array, Data set, and Memory stream. The Load method is used to open a spreadsheet file, and the SaveAs method is used to export the spreadsheet to the desired file type.

How to Convert and Export (XLSX, XLS, XLSM, XLTX, CSV) in C#

1. Install the C# library for converting Excel files to other file formats
2. Use the WorkBook class to load or create new XLS or XLSX
3. View, add, or modify data in the Excel spreadsheet using C#
4. Utilize the methods in the WorkBook class to export the spreadsheet
5. Check the exported file in the specified directory

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Convert Spreadsheet Type Example

The process of converting spreadsheet types involves loading a file in one supported format and exporting it to another format using IronXL's intelligent data restructuring capabilities.

While the SaveAs method can be used to export to CSV, JSON, XML, and HTML, it is recommended to use the dedicated methods for each file format:

• SaveAsCsv
• SaveAsJson
• SaveAsXml
• ExportToHtml

// Example C# code to convert an Excel spreadsheet to different formats using IronXL

using IronXL;

class SpreadsheetConversion
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Load the Excel spreadsheet
        WorkBook workbook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx");

        // Convert and save as CSV
        workbook.SaveAsCsv("sample.csv");

        // Convert and save as JSON
        workbook.SaveAsJson("sample.json");

        // Convert and save as XML
        workbook.SaveAsXml("sample.xml");

        // Convert and export to HTML
        workbook.ExportToHtml("sample.html");

        // The files will be saved in the project's directory with the specified formats
    }
}

// Example C# code to convert an Excel spreadsheet to different formats using IronXL

using IronXL;

class SpreadsheetConversion
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Load the Excel spreadsheet
        WorkBook workbook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx");

        // Convert and save as CSV
        workbook.SaveAsCsv("sample.csv");

        // Convert and save as JSON
        workbook.SaveAsJson("sample.json");

        // Convert and save as XML
        workbook.SaveAsXml("sample.xml");

        // Convert and export to HTML
        workbook.ExportToHtml("sample.html");

        // The files will be saved in the project's directory with the specified formats
    }
}

' Example C# code to convert an Excel spreadsheet to different formats using IronXL



Imports IronXL



Friend Class SpreadsheetConversion

	Shared Sub Main()

		' Load the Excel spreadsheet

		Dim workbook As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx")



		' Convert and save as CSV

		workbook.SaveAsCsv("sample.csv")



		' Convert and save as JSON

		workbook.SaveAsJson("sample.json")



		' Convert and save as XML

		workbook.SaveAsXml("sample.xml")



		' Convert and export to HTML

		workbook.ExportToHtml("sample.html")



		' The files will be saved in the project's directory with the specified formats

	End Sub

End Class

Advanced

In the previous section, we explored the most common file formats for conversion. However, IronXL has the capability to convert spreadsheets to many more formats. Explore all the available options for loading and exporting spreadsheets.

Load

• XLS, XLSX, XLSM, and XLTX
• CSV
• TSV

Export

• XLS, XLSX, and XLSM
• CSV and TSV
• JSON
• XML
• HTML

• Inline code data types:

  • HTML string
  • Binary and Byte array
  • Data set: Exporting Excel into System.Data.DataSet and System.Data.DataTable objects allows easy interoperability or integration with DataGrids, SQL, and EF.
  • Memory stream

The inline code data types can be sent as a RESTful API response or used with IronPDF to convert them into a PDF document.

// Advanced example: converting an XLSX file to multiple formats using IronXL

using IronXL;

class AdvancedSpreadsheetConversion
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Load the Excel spreadsheet
        WorkBook workbook = WorkBook.Load("advanced_sample.xlsx");

        // Convert and save to various formats
        workbook.SaveAs("advanced_sample.xlsm");
        workbook.SaveAsCsv("advanced_sample.csv");
        workbook.SaveAsJson("advanced_sample.json");
        workbook.SaveAsXml("advanced_sample.xml");
        workbook.ExportToHtml("advanced_sample.html");

        // You can also convert to binary or byte array for advanced uses
        byte[] excelAsByteArray = workbook.ToBinaryData();
    }
}

// Advanced example: converting an XLSX file to multiple formats using IronXL

using IronXL;

class AdvancedSpreadsheetConversion
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Load the Excel spreadsheet
        WorkBook workbook = WorkBook.Load("advanced_sample.xlsx");

        // Convert and save to various formats
        workbook.SaveAs("advanced_sample.xlsm");
        workbook.SaveAsCsv("advanced_sample.csv");
        workbook.SaveAsJson("advanced_sample.json");
        workbook.SaveAsXml("advanced_sample.xml");
        workbook.ExportToHtml("advanced_sample.html");

        // You can also convert to binary or byte array for advanced uses
        byte[] excelAsByteArray = workbook.ToBinaryData();
    }
}

' Advanced example: converting an XLSX file to multiple formats using IronXL



Imports IronXL



Friend Class AdvancedSpreadsheetConversion

	Shared Sub Main()

		' Load the Excel spreadsheet

		Dim workbook As WorkBook = WorkBook.Load("advanced_sample.xlsx")



		' Convert and save to various formats

		workbook.SaveAs("advanced_sample.xlsm")

		workbook.SaveAsCsv("advanced_sample.csv")

		workbook.SaveAsJson("advanced_sample.json")

		workbook.SaveAsXml("advanced_sample.xml")

		workbook.ExportToHtml("advanced_sample.html")



		' You can also convert to binary or byte array for advanced uses

		Dim excelAsByteArray() As Byte = workbook.ToBinaryData()

	End Sub

End Class

The code above loads an ordinary XLSX file, then converts and exports it to several formats.

The Spreadsheet We Will Convert

XLSX file

The various files exported are shown below.

TSV File Export

CSV File Export

JSON File Export

XML File Export

HTML File Export

Chaknith Bin

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Software Engineer

Chaknith is the Sherlock Holmes of developers. It first occurred to him he might have a future in software engineering, when he was doing code challenges for fun. His focus is on IronXL and IronBarcode, but he takes pride in helping customers with every product. Chaknith leverages his knowledge from talking directly with customers, to help further improve the products themselves. His anecdotal feedback goes beyond Jira tickets and supports product development, documentation and marketing, to improve customer’s overall experience.When he isn’t in the office, he can be found learning about machine learning, coding and hiking.