How to Convert an Excel Spreadsheet to a PDF

Converting an Excel file to a PDF makes it easier for people to open and view the file on various platforms—even if they don't have Microsoft Office. PDFs are also easier to print and distribute than Excel spreadsheets. If you have Microsoft Excel, you can easily convert your spreadsheet to a PDF by saving or exporting it within the app. If you don't have Excel, you can use Google Sheets, a tool on Google Drive, to make the conversion for free. You can also use a free online Excel to PDF converter.

How to Make an Excel Sheet Into a PDF: Quick Steps

Open the file you want to convert.
Click the File menu in the top-left corner.
Click Export on the Menu.
Click Create PDF/XPS.
Click Options to adjust the settings of your PDF.
Select your options, then click OK.
Name the file and click Publish.

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Using Excel for Windows

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1
Select the part of the Excel spreadsheet you want to convert to PDF (optional). If there's only a certain part of the Excel file that you want to turn into PDF format, select it now. Otherwise, move on to the next step.
- Note that PDF conversions cannot be easily reverted to an Excel sheet, but this method will preserve your original copy.
- If you're on a Mac, jump to our method on Excel for Mac.
It's at the top-left corner.

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3
Click Export on the menu. This opens the Export panel.
- If you have Adobe Acrobat installed on your PC, you’ll see an option that says Save as Adobe PDF. You can select this option to convert your spreadsheet, workbook, or selection to a PDF using Adobe. However, unless you have the premium version of Adobe, you can only create one free PDF this way per month.
4
Click Create PDF/XPS. Look for the icon that looks like a sheet of paper wearing a belt. You might need to select Create PDF/XPS Document in the left-hand menu first.
- Alternatively, you can select Save As (or Save a Copy) from the File menu, then choose PDF from the “Save as type” dropdown. The rest of the steps will be essentially the same. You may need to click More options to see all the PDF formatting options described below.
- You can also go to File > Print and select Microsoft Print to PDF under the Printer header. Use the Settings dropdown to select which part(s) of the workbook to print.
This will allow you to adjust the settings for the PDF file you are about to create.
6
Choose your PDF options and click OK.
- If you selected an area of your spreadsheet to save as a PDF, choose Selection under "Publish what." This ensures that only the selected area is saved as a PDF.
- If you'd rather save the entire visible worksheet as a PDF, choose Active sheet(s) instead.
- To save the entire workbook as a PDF, choose Entire workbook.
- If you want to choose specific pages from the workbook to save as a PDF, use the "Page(s)" drop-down menus to define the first and last pages.
- Click OK to continue.
7
Choose your optimization (optional). Above the "Options" button, you can select how you want to optimize the PDF. Most people can stick with "Standard" unless the spreadsheet is very large. "Minimum size" will reduce the size of a larger file to something more manageable.
- If you want to change the location to which you're saving the file, you can navigate to that folder in the window now.
This exports the selected information to a new PDF file with the name you've entered.
9
Review the PDF. By default, the PDF file will open automatically for your review. If it doesn't open automatically, just double-click the name of the file in the folder to which you saved it.
- It will be more difficult to edit the document in PDF format, so if you need to make changes, you'll want to make them in the Excel document and then create a new PDF.

Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Using Excel for Mac

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1
Select the part of the Excel spreadsheet you want to convert to PDF (optional). If there's only a certain part of the spreadsheet that you want to turn into a PDF, select it now. Otherwise, go to the next step.
- PDF conversions cannot be easily converted back into an Excel sheet, but this method will preserve your original copy.
2
Click the File menu and select Save As. You could also press Command + Shift + S to open the Save As option.^{[1]
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- If you want to save the PDF to a new folder, you can select that folder now.
3
Type a different name for the file. The name of the current Excel file appears in the "Save As" field. You will need to enter a different name (even if it's just slightly different) to avoid accidentally overwriting the spreadsheet file.^{[2]
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This menu may have a slightly different name depending on your version of Excel.
At the bottom of the window, you can select Workbook (to convert the entire workbook), Sheet (to save only the active sheet as a PDF), or Selection (to save just the selected area as a PDF).
6
Choose an optimization option. You can either select “Best for electronic distribution and accessibility” or “Best for Printing,” depending on your needs.
7
Click Save or Export. You'll see a different option depending on your version of Excel.
- Alternatively, you can create a PDF by going to File > Print and clicking the PDF button at the bottom left corner. This method won’t offer as many options as the Save As method (you can’t select which part(s) of the workbook to print or change the optimization).

Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Using Google Drive

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Go to drive.google.com. If you need to convert an Excel spreadsheet to PDF but don't have Excel, don't fret—you can use tools built into your Google account to do the conversion for free.
- If you're not already signed in to your Google account, sign in when prompted.
It's at the top-left corner of your Google Drive.
This opens your computer's file browser.
This uploads the spreadsheet to your Google Drive.
This opens the spreadsheet in Google Sheets, Google's free spreadsheet editor.
A list of download options will expand.
This displays a preview of your PDF in the Google Sheets printing window.
8
Adjust the layout of your PDF. If the print preview doesn't look the way you want, use the right panel to make any changes you need before you continue.
- The PDF will save in the same orientation as the spreadsheet (usually landscape mode). If you'd rather it be in portrait (vertical) mode, select Portrait under "Page orientation."
- Change the scale (the size/fit on the page) and margin size if necessary.
- Click Formatting to choose whether to display gridlines and/or notes, adjust the page order, and change the alignment.
- To add headers and footers to the tops and bottoms of pages, click Headers & footers, and then check the boxes to choose which information to display.
- If your spreadsheet contains a lot of data and cuts off in odd places, click SET CUSTOM PAGE BREAKS in the right panel. Here, you can drag the blue lines to adjust where each page begins and ends. Click CONFIRM BREAKS at the top-right to save your changes.
9
Click EXPORT. It's the blue button at the top-right. This prompts you to save your new PDF to your computer.
- If the download doesn't begin automatically, choose a location to which you'll save the PDF, and then click Save to download it.

Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Using Online Converters

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Navigate to an online Excel to PDF converter. There are numerous free converters online, but not all of them are necessarily safe. One trustworthy option is Adobe’s Excel to PDF converter, which you can find at www.adobe.com/acrobat/online/excel-to-pdf.html.
2
Upload the Excel file you want to convert. You can usually do this by clicking the button that says Select a file or similar. In the Adobe converter, you can also drag and drop the Excel file into the upload window.
3
Follow the prompts to complete the process. Typically, you can just click the Download button to save the PDF to your computer once the conversion is complete. You may see some options for editing your PDF before you download it, depending on the converter you use.
- The PDF might automatically save to your Downloads folder, or it might open in your browser. If the latter happens, click the Save icon in the menu bar at the top of the document window to download it.

Expert Q&A

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Question

How can I send a large Excel spreadsheet if I don't want to convert it to a PDF?

Luigi Oppido
Computer & Tech Specialist
Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over 7 years.

Luigi Oppido

Computer & Tech Specialist

Expert Answer

If you're sending a large Excel sheet, or if you want to send multiple files at once, you can compress the files as a zip folder. Then, the other person can unzip the folder and see all of the original files.

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Question

How do I get a one-page worksheet as a one-page PDF? It keeps trying to save as several pages.

Community Answer

In Excel go to Page Layout. In the Scale to Fit section, make sure Width and Height are both set to one page, then save the Excel document as a PDF.

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How can I get full xlsx worksheets to convert to PDF?

Community Answer

In Microsoft Office Suite 2016. There's an option to export under File. From there, you can choose the Export to PDF option.

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If you're sending a large Excel sheet to someone who also has Microsoft Excel, or if you need to send multiple files, try compressing the files instead of converting them to a PDF.

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