SUMMARY
This article explains how to save Excel 2000 files in
different formats and provides additional information to consider when you save
files.
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Save a File in a Different Format
By default, Excel saves files in the Microsoft Excel Workbook
format. Files that were saved in this format cannot be opened in versions of
Excel earlier than Microsoft Excel 97, or in other spreadsheet
programs.
NOTE: Excel 97 can open workbooks that were saved in Excel 2000;
however, any features that are exclusive to Excel 2000 may not function or be
available in Excel 97.
If you want to save a file in a different
format, follow these steps:
- Open the workbook that you want to save in a different
format.
- On the File menu, click Save As.
- In the Save as type list, click the file
format that you want to use.
- If you want, change the name of the file, and then click Save.
NOTE: If the file format does not support multiple sheets or plies,
you may receive the following warning message:
The
selected file type does not support workbooks that contain multiple sheets.
If the file format does not support multiple sheets, make sure that
you save the other sheets in your workbook before you close it. Otherwise, some
of your work may be lost. The easiest way to save your whole workbook is to
save it in the Microsoft Excel Workbook format.
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What File Formats Are Available?
You can save files in any of the following formats:
Format Extension Notes
-------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Excel Workbook .xls 1
Web Page .htm, .html 2
Template .xlt 2
Formatted Text (Space delimited) .prn 3
Text (Tab delimited) .txt 3
Unicode Text .txt 3
Microsoft Excel 5.0/95 Workbook .xls 4
Microsoft Excel 97-2000 & 5.0/95 Workbook .xls 5
CSV (Comma delimited) .csv 3
Microsoft Excel 4.0 Worksheet .xls 3
Microsoft Excel 3.0 Worksheet .xls 3
Microsoft Excel 2.1 Worksheet .xls 3
Microsoft Excel 4.0 Workbook .xlw 6
WK4 (1-2-3) .wk4 7
WK3,FM3 (1-2-3) .wk3, .fm3 7
WK3 (1-2-3) .wk3 7
WK1,FMT (1-2-3) .wk1, .fmt 8
WK1,ALL (1-2-3) .wk1, .all 8
WK1 (1-2-3) .wk1 8
WKS (1-2-3) .wks 8
WQ1 (Quattro Pro/DOS) .wq1 8
DBF 4 (dBASE IV) .dbf 8
DBF 3 (dBASE III) .dbf 8
DBF 2 (dBASE II) .dbf 8
Text (Macintosh) .txt 9
Text (MS-DOS) .txt 9
CSV (Macintosh) .csv 9
CSV (MS-DOS) .csv 9
DIF (Data Interchange Format) .dif 3
SYLK (Symbolic Link) .slk 3
Microsoft Excel Add-In .xla 10
Microsoft Excel Workspace .xlw 11
Microsoft Excel 4.0 Chart .xlc 12
Microsoft Excel 3.0 Chart .xlc 12
Microsoft Excel 2.1 Chart .xlc 12
Microsoft Excel 4.0 Macro .xlm 13
Microsoft Excel 4.0 Int'l Macro .xlm 13
Microsoft Excel 3.0 Macro .xlm 13
Microsoft Excel 2.1 Macro .xlm 13
NOTES
- The default file format. The whole workbook is saved in
this format.
- The whole workbook is saved in this format.
- Only the active sheet is saved. This format is only
available for worksheets and macro sheets.
- The whole workbook is saved, except for UserForms, class
modules, and "code behind sheets."
- The whole workbook is saved, two times, into a single
file.
For more information about this file format, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
214237
Using Excel 2000 files with earlier versions of Excel
211483 Read-only recommended when you open Excel 97-2000 and 5.0/95 file format
- All worksheets, macro sheets, and charts are saved.
Modules, dialog sheets, UserForms, class modules, and "code behind sheets" are
not saved.
- All worksheets and charts are saved. All other types of
sheets are not saved.
- Only the active worksheet is saved. This format is only
available for worksheets.
- Only the active sheet is saved. Select the appropriate
operating system (Macintosh, OS/2, MS-DOS) to make sure that the text file uses
the correct combination of tab characters, line breaks, carriage returns, and
other characters.
- The whole workbook is saved.
For more information about creating
add-ins, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
211563
How to create an add-in file in Excel 2000
- To save an Excel Workspace, click Save Workspace on the File menu.
- Only the active chart sheet is saved. This format is only
available for chart sheets.
- Only the active macro sheet is saved. This format is only
available for macro sheets (not Visual Basic modules).
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Set a Different Default File Format
The default file format is Microsoft Excel Workbook, but you can
change it. To set a different default file format, follow these steps:
- On the Tools menu, click Options.
- Click the Transition tab.
- In the Save Excel files as list, click the
default file format that you want.
- Click OK.
When you save a file by using the
Save As command, the new default file format will be selected. Note that
you can override this new default by selecting another file format in the
Save as type list.
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See This Information in Excel Help
To see the information in this article in Excel Help, follow
these steps:
- On the standard toolbar, click Office Assistant.
- Type How can I save a file in a different
format?, and then press ENTER.
In the help balloon that
appears, there are a number of topics:
- Click File format converters supplied with
Microsoft Excel to read about the different file formats that are
included with Excel.
- Click Change the default file format for saving
workbooks to read about how to change the default file format.
You can also click the other topics to see additional
information about how to open and save files in different formats.
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