How to convert Numbers file to MS Excel file

"When I convert the file to excel from Mac…"

More precisely "When I convert the file to excel from Numbers on a Mac…"

Numbers is not a clone of Excel. The two applications have different feature sets, including different means of handling images and other objects.

When you Export a Numbers file to Excel, Numbers translates that file into something the Excel can read. Numbers features not supported in Excel or supported in a different manner will display differently when opened in Excel.

When you Open an Excel file in Numbers, Numbers translates the Excel file to Numbers' native format. Excel formulas not supported in Numbers are dropped, and the last results calculated by the formula is imported to Numbers.

If you are sending documents back and forth between your Mac and MS Excel on someone elses PC, Numbers is not the best tool to use. The best would be a current version of MS Excel for Mac, for which .xlsx is the native format.

Second choice would be LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice. Both of these mimic the functions of MS Excel more closely than does Numbers, and therefore provide more accurate matches to Excel files. The links will take you to their respective download sites. Both are free to download and use, although both do request donations to support further development.

Regards,

Barry

Hi Dennis,

Numbers 3.2. Menu > File > Export To > Excel...

That will create an Excel copy on your machine. Send it to your Excel friends. They will find that every object (table, graph, text box) will appear on a separate sheet in Excel. That just how it works.

Numbers will open an Excel document and you can edit. But be aware that continued conversion to and fro between Numbers and Excel is not perfect. Glitches will build up. If your Excel friends blame Mac, tell them that the problem belongs with Microsoft. Excel does not in any way recognise a Numbers document!

Regards,

Ian.

When I have the numbers file open and go to file>export to, the second box is not highlighted to indicate a move to excel. How do I go forward? Need to send spreadsheets via email to a windows user

Hi mg,

What version of Numbers are you using?

What version of OS X?

Numbers 2 (Numbers '09) under OS X El Capitan no longer supports Share > Send via Email. (This may have been broken in OS X Yosemite.)

You must Share > Export > Excel.

or File > Export > Excel.

Save the exported Excel document in a temporary folder

Then in Mail, attach that Excel document to a message.

In Numbers 3.6.2 Share > Send a Copy > Mail > Choose Excel

Mail will open a new message containing the exported Excel document.

Or File > Export to... > Excel.

Save in a temporary folder and attach to an email message.

Regards,

Ian.

Yes. while the Numbers file you want to export is open, select the menu item "File > Export To > Excel…":

Hi, thanks for the tip, I got that already. When I convert the file to excel from Mac, the images on the file are not shown in xls file.
How to convert the file to xls while maintain images?

Thanks for this. I figured you can add the image manually from tab Insert and choose.
Thanks.