Trouble Converting ODS files to XLS

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Trouble Converting ODS files to XLS

New convert to Mac from Windows. I have a lot of ODS spreadsheets created with OpenOffice. I'd like to move to use Numbers for spreadsheets, but I can't convert the ODS files to XLS without problems.

This screenshot shows a problem, namely that a simple date field doesn't convert properly. What you're seeing here is the spreadsheet opened in OO on the left. On the right, is the file in Numbers. That is, I saved the spreadsheet in XLS format from OO then opened it in Numbers. The dates didn't transfer.

Any idea how to fix that? I'd rather not have to use OO on the Mac.

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13.6), 21.5

Posted on Aug 4, 2018 8:42 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

VikingOSX

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Level 10

116,579 points

Aug 4, 2018 12:37 PM in response to TromboneAl

OpenOffice, and LibreOffice, as they are MS Office Suite clones, will be more faithful in conversion from ODS to XLS/X than would Numbers which is not an Excel clone, and does not support all of Excel's functions or features.

LibreOffice is the more actively developed and functionality, featured product on the Mac.

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Answer 2

TromboneAl Author

Level 1

12 points

Aug 4, 2018 3:18 PM in response to Old Toad

>You need to install Open Office for Mac, open the .ods spreadsheets and save as .xls.

I actually tried that and got the same result.

I think I'll just use OO (or LibreOffice) on my iMac. I had planned to try to use the native apps whenever possible, but that might be the best solution here.

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