XLS
Technology & Computing abbreviation · File Format
| Stands for | Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (legacy binary format) |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
XLS stands for Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (legacy binary format), a file format abbreviation.
File format of Microsoft Excel 97 to 2003 and earlier, holding worksheets, formulas, charts and macros in a binary structure. Each worksheet is limited to 65,536 rows and 256 columns.
Example: The bank's export downloads as an XLS file, so it opens in Excel Compatibility Mode.
Usage notes
Excel launched for the Macintosh in 1985 and for Windows in 1987. Many legacy business systems still export .xls, and the limited grid size truncates large datasets. In 2020, an English health agency's use of the old format to collect COVID-19 test results caused nearly 16,000 cases to go unreported because the files ran out of rows.
Related abbreviations
More file format abbreviations
- 3GP – 3GPP file format
- 3MF – 3D Manufacturing Format
- 7z – 7-Zip archive
- AAB – Android App Bundle
- AAC – Advanced Audio Coding
- AI – Adobe Illustrator Artwork
- AIFF – Audio Interchange File Format
- ALAC – Apple Lossless Audio Codec
- AMR – Adaptive Multi-Rate
- APK – Android Package Kit
- APNG – Animated Portable Network Graphics
- ARW – Sony Alpha Raw