Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about the tools, the privacy of your files and spreadsheet formats.

General

What is Compare Spreadsheets?

It’s a website with free online tools for working with Excel files and other spreadsheets: compare, merge, remove duplicates, remove empty rows, compress, repair, password protect and convert between XLSX, XLS, CSV, ODS and PDF. Everything is done from your browser.

Are the tools free?

Yes. All the tools can be used for free, with no subscriptions or paid features to unlock.

Do I need to sign up or create an account?

No. Open the tool, upload your file and download the result. We don’t ask for your email, name or a password.

Do I need to install any software?

No. The tools work in your browser. You don’t even need Excel installed to compare, convert or clean up a file.

Can I use them on my phone or tablet?

Yes. They work on Android, iPhone and iPad. For very large files, a computer is faster and more comfortable.

Which browsers can I use?

Any up-to-date browser: Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari or Opera. If something doesn’t work, update your browser or try another one.

Is there a file size limit?

Yes. The maximum size depends on the tool and is shown next to the upload button. If your file is larger, try shrinking it first with the Compress Excel tool.

Open Compress Excel

Privacy and security

Are my files safe?

Yes. Your files are only used to create the result you ask for. We don’t share them, publish them or use them for anything else.

Do you keep a copy of my files?

No. Depending on the tool, the file is processed in your own browser (as in PDF to Excel) or on this website’s server. When it’s processed on the server, it’s deleted as soon as you receive the result.

Do you send my files to other companies or services?

No. The tools run on this website or in your browser, without sending your files to external services.

Can I upload files with confidential data?

Yes, files aren’t stored or reviewed. Even so, if the document contains very sensitive data, we recommend removing any columns you don’t need before uploading it.

Is my original file changed?

No. Your original file stays the same: you always download a new file with the result.

Do you store the password I put on my files?

No. The password is only used to encrypt the file at that moment; it isn’t stored or logged. That’s why we can’t recover it if you forget it.

Open Password Protect Excel Files

How to use the tools

How do I compare two Excel files?

Open Compare Excel Files, upload the original file and the modified one, and download a new document with all the differences between them.

Open Compare Excel Files

How do I combine several Excel files into one?

With Merge Excel: upload the files you want to combine and download a single workbook with all the data.

Open Merge Excel

How do I remove duplicate rows?

With Remove Duplicates in Excel. Upload the file and the tool keeps a single copy of each repeated row. It works with XLSX, XLS, CSV and ODS.

Open Remove Duplicates in Excel

How do I delete the empty rows in a sheet?

With Remove Empty Rows in Excel: upload the file and download the same sheet without the blank rows between your data.

Open Remove Empty Rows in Excel

How do I reduce the size of an Excel file?

With Compress Excel. Files are often heavy because of large images, unused formats and styles, or empty ranges. The tool optimizes them without touching your data.

Open Compress Excel

What can I do if an Excel file won’t open or is damaged?

Try Repair Excel. It recovers as much as possible from damaged XLSX, XLS and CSV files and gives you a new file that opens. If the damage is severe, some content may not be recoverable.

Open Repair Excel

How do I password protect an Excel file?

With Password Protect Excel Files: upload the file, enter the password and download the protected copy. Excel and LibreOffice will ask for that password when opening it. Keep it safe: if you forget it, it can’t be recovered.

Open Password Protect Excel Files

Can you remove or recover the password of an Excel file?

No. We don’t offer tools to remove or crack passwords. If you know the password, you can remove it in Excel from File > Info > Protect Workbook > Encrypt with Password, deleting it and saving.

How do I convert a PDF to Excel?

With PDF to Excel: upload the PDF and download the tables as XLSX, XLS, ODS or CSV. It also works with scanned PDFs thanks to text recognition (OCR).

Open PDF to Excel

File formats

Which file formats are supported?

XLSX, XLS, CSV, ODS and PDF, depending on the tool. Each tool shows the formats it accepts and the ones it can create.

What’s the difference between XLS and XLSX?

XLS is the Excel 97-2003 format and XLSX is the format of Excel 2007 and later. XLSX files are smaller, support many more rows and columns, and are used by current versions. You can convert between them with XLS to XLSX and XLSX to XLS.

Open XLS to XLSX

What is a CSV file and when should I use it?

A CSV is a text file with the data separated by commas or semicolons. Almost every program can read it, so it’s used to import and export data. It only stores one sheet and the values: it doesn’t keep formulas, colors or formatting.

Open Excel to CSV

Do they work with LibreOffice or Google Sheets?

Yes. ODS files from LibreOffice and OpenOffice are supported. With Google Sheets, first download the sheet from File > Download > Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) and upload it to the tool.

Are formulas and formatting kept when converting?

It depends on the target format. Between XLS, XLSX and ODS, most of the content is kept. When converting to CSV only the values are saved, and a PDF gives you a page to view or print, not to edit.

Accented letters or special characters look wrong in my CSV. Why?

It’s usually an encoding issue. When opening the CSV in Excel, use Data > Get Data > From Text/CSV and choose UTF-8. If everything shows up in a single column, also choose the right delimiter: comma or semicolon.

Open CSV to Excel

Problems and errors

The file won’t upload or I get an error. What should I do?

Check that the format is one of the supported ones, that the file isn’t over the size limit and that it has no password. Then reload the page and try again. If it still fails, try another browser or write to us.

Go to the contact page

Can I use a file that already has a password?

With most tools, no: an encrypted file can’t be read without its password. Remove it in Excel, save the file and upload it again.

The download doesn’t start. What can I do?

Check whether your browser blocked the download (it usually shows a notice in the address bar) and look in your Downloads folder. On a phone, look for the file in the Files or My Files app.

The result isn’t what I expected. Can you help?

Yes. Write to us with the tool, the file format and what you expected to get. Don’t attach documents with confidential data; if we need a sample, we’ll ask you.

Go to the contact page

How long does it take to process a file?

Usually a few seconds. Large files, files with many sheets or scanned PDFs can take a bit longer. Don’t close the page while it’s processing.

Other questions

Which languages is the site available in?

Spanish and English. You can switch languages from the selector in the menu. We’ll keep adding more languages.

Can I use the resulting files for work or in my company?

Yes. The files you create are yours and you can use them however you need, including for commercial purposes.

Can I suggest a new tool?

Yes, we love getting ideas. Tell us what you need to do with your spreadsheets from the contact page.

Go to the contact page

How can I contact you?

Through the form on the contact page. We reply to the email you enter, usually within one or two business days.

Go to the contact page

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