Differences between the OpenDocument Spreadsheet (.ods) format and the Excel (.xlsx) format

When you work with two file formats, like .xlsx and .ods, there might be formatting differences, and not all features will be available. You'll be able to convert data and content, but the way you work with the content might be different depending on which formats you use.

Switch your default file format

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button > Excel Options.

2. Click Save.

3. Under Save workbooks, in the Save files in this format list, click the file format you want to use by default.

What is supported when I save an Excel worksheet in the OpenDocument Spreadsheet format?

The table below shows which Excel features are fully, partially, or not supported in the OpenDocument Spreadsheet (.ods) format.

• Supported     Both Excel and the OpenDocument Spreadsheet format support this feature. Content, formatting, and usability won't be lost.

• Partially Supported     Both Excel and the OpenDocument Spreadsheet format support this feature, but formatting and usability might be affected. No text or data is lost, but formatting and how you work with text or graphics might be different.

• Not Supported     The feature in Excel isn't supported in the OpenDocument Spreadsheet format. If you plan to save your Excel worksheet in the OpenDocument Spreadsheet format, don't use this feature or you risk losing content, formatting, and usability of that part of your worksheet.

To see information about graphic features, see the Graphic Elements table at the end of this article.

Note: If you are using Microsoft Excel Starter 2010, not all the features listed for Excel 2010 are supported in Excel Starter. For more information about the features available in Excel Starter, see Excel Starter feature support.

Area	Subarea	Level of support
		Excel 2007	Excel 2010
Formatting	Row Heights/Column widths	Supported Appearance should be similar.	Supported Appearance should be similar.
Formatting	Cell	Supported	Supported
Hyperlinks		Supported There might be issues with Hyperlink styles.	Supported There might be issues with Hyperlink styles.
Formatting	Cell styles	Supported	Supported
Dates	Dates before 1900-01-01	Not Supported If save workbook with dates before 1900-01-01 as .ods, the pre-1900 dates won't save correctly.	Not Supported If save workbook with dates before 1900-01-01 as .ods, the pre-1900 dates won't save correctly.
Print	Print Ranges	Supported	Supported
Print	Repeat Rows/Columns	Not Supported	Not Supported
Print	Page breaks	Supported	Supported
Print	Header/Footer	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, Image, First page or Odd/even options are not supported.	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, Image, First page or Odd/even options are not supported.
Formulas		Supported	Supported
Formulas	Names	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, Local Names, Named expressions, and names to discontinuous ranges are not supported.	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, Local Names, Named expressions, and names to discontinuous ranges are not supported.
Cell Comments		Partially Supported Comments with content are round-tripped. Formatting on the comment might not be supported when you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel.	Partially Supported Comments with content are round-tripped. Formatting on the comment might not be supported when you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel.
Data Tools	Group & Outline	Supported	Supported
OLE Objects		Supported	Supported
Settings	Window Settings	Not Supported	Not Supported
Settings	Sheet/Book settings	Not Supported	Not Supported
Protection	Sheet Protection	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, protection without a password is supported. However, files with a password-protected sheet cannot be saved or opened.	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, protection without a password is supported. However, files with a password-protected sheet cannot be saved or opened.
Protection	Information Rights Management (IRM)	Not Supported Files with IRM turned on cannot be saved.	Not Supported Files with IRM turned on cannot be saved.
Protection	Encryption	Not Supported Files with of this type protection cannot be saved.	Not Supported Files with of this type protection cannot be saved.
Data Tools	Data Validation	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some formula type Data Validation cannot be saved.	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some formula type Data Validation cannot be saved.
External Data	Web Queries	Supported	Supported
External Data	QueryTables	Partially Supported Some settings, such as inserted columns, are not supported.	Partially Supported Some settings, such as inserted columns, are not supported.
Tables	Total Rows	Not Supported	Not Supported
Tables	Table Styles	Not Supported	Not Supported
Data Tools	Sort	Partially Supported Some advanced settings are not supported.	Partially Supported Some advanced settings are not supported.
Data Tools	Subtotal	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, the formulas themselves are supported, but the settings for re-applying are not supported.	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, the formulas themselves are supported, but the settings for re-applying are not supported.
Data Tools	Filter	Partially Supported Basic filtering is supported, but the Filter features added in Excel 2007 are not supported.	Partially Supported Basic filtering is supported, but the Filter features added in Excel 2010 are not supported.
PivotTable	Styles	Not Supported	Not Supported
PivotTable	Layout	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some layouts, such as compact axis, are not supported.	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some layouts, such as compact axis, are not supported.
PivotTable	Calculated fields	Not Supported	Not Supported
PivotTable	Grouping	Partially Supported	Partially Supported
PivotTable	IMBI PivotTables
PivotTables	OLAP Pivots	Not Supported	Not Supported
Data Tools	Consolidation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Share Workbook button (Review tab)		Not Supported	Not Supported
Charts	Data labels	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some Data Labels are not supported.	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some Data Labels are not supported.
Charts	Data tables	Not Supported	Not Supported
Charts	Trendlines	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some Trendlines are not supported.	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some Trendlines are not supported.
Charts	Error bars	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some Error Bars are not supported.	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some Error Bars are not supported.
Charts	Drop Lines	Not Supported	Not Supported
Charts	Hi-Low lines	Not Supported	Not Supported
Charts	Leader lines on data labels	Not Supported	Not Supported
Charts	Filled Radar Charts	Not Supported	Not Supported
Charts	Legends	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some settings are not supported.	Partially Supported When you save the file in .ods format and open it again in Excel, some settings are not supported.
Charts	PivotCharts	Not Supported	Not Supported
charts	Chart Sheets	Not Supported	Not Supported
Charts	Pie of Pie or Bar of Pie	Not Supported	Not Supported
OLAP Formulas		Not Supported	Not Supported
charts	Shapes on charts	Not Supported	Not Supported

Graphics Elements

The table below shows which Excel graphics features are fully, partially, or not supported in the OpenDocument Format (.ods).

• Supported     The Excel format and the OpenDocument Format support this feature. Graphics using this feature generally appear and behave the same in either format.

• Partially Supported     The Excel format and the OpenDocument Format support this feature, but graphics might appear different between the formats. No data is generally lost between the formats, but formatting and how you work with these graphics might be different.

• Not Supported     Because of the unique differences of features and implementation between the Excel format and the OpenDocument Format, this feature isn't supported in OpenDocument Format. If you plan to save your worksheet in an OpenDocument Format, don't use these features.

Basic shapes	Level of support
	Excel 2007	Excel 2010
Shapes	Supported	Supported
Text boxes	Supported Supported except for objects inside text boxes. The objects inside the text box are dropped when you open an OpenDocument file.	Supported Supported except for objects inside text boxes. The objects inside the text box are dropped when you open an OpenDocument file.
WordArt	Partially Supported ODF does not support the WordArt options in Excel. As a result, WordArt is converted to a text box on save. The text and base text color are maintained but WordArt effects and formatting are lost.	Partially Supported ODF does not support the WordArt options in Excel. As a result, WordArt is converted to a text box on save. The text and base text color are maintained but WordArt effects and formatting are lost.
3D shapes options	Not Supported	Not Supported
Pictures	Supported Supported except for the insert and link option that are not supported in ODF.	Supported Supported except for the insert and link option that are not supported in ODF.
SmartArt diagrams	Supported Converted to a group of shapes.	Supported Converted to a group of shapes.
ActiveX controls	Not Supported	Not Supported
Excel form controls	Not Supported	Not Supported
Objects in charts	Supported Converted to a group containing the chart and objects.	Supported Converted to a group containing the chart and objects.
Signature line object	Not Supported	Not Supported
Camera tool/paste as picture link object	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ink annotation	Supported The ink annotation is converted to a freeform shape.	Supported The ink annotation is converted to an Enhanced Metafile (EMF) image.
Group of objects	Supported Some objects cannot be grouped together in Excel 2007, so the objects are ungrouped when you open the OpenDocument file. This includes a chart, picture, shape, or text box grouped with an OLE object.	Supported Some objects cannot be grouped together in Excel 2010, so the objects are ungrouped when you open the OpenDocument file. This includes a chart, picture, shape, or text box grouped with an OLE object.
Object visibility	Not Supported Invisible objects become visible after saving the file in .ods and opening again in Excel 2007.	Not Supported Invisible objects become visible after saving the file in .ods and opening again in Excel 2010.
Object borders	Supported Not all border styles are supported. Border styles that are not supported are saved as the default border style (black, solid line).	Supported Not all border styles are supported. Border styles that are not supported are saved as the default border style (black, solid line).
Object fills	Supported Supported except that gradient fills with more than two stops lose all stops after the first two	Supported Supported except that gradient fills with more than two stops lose all stops after the first two.
Line formatting	Supported Not all line and line end styles are supported in ODF. Styles that are not supported are saved as the default, black solid line and open arrow type, respectively.	Supported Not all line and line end styles are supported in ODF. Styles that are not supported are saved as the default, black solid line and open arrow type, respectively.
Picture cropping	Supported Regular cropping of a picture is supported. However, cropping a picture with a shape is not supported.	Supported Regular cropping of a picture is supported. However, cropping a picture with a shape is not supported.
Picture recoloring	Partially Supported Some picture recoloring has the equivalent in ODF, such as black and white. Other picture recoloring does not have an equivalent and is flattened. The picture appears the same but the recoloring can no longer be changed or removed.	Partially Supported Some picture recoloring has the equivalent in ODF, such as black and white. Other picture recoloring does not have an equivalent and is flattened. The picture appears the same but the recoloring can no longer be changed or removed.
3D picture options	Not Supported	Not Supported
Picture styles	Partially Supported Borders are partially supported, but might not look the same.	Partially Supported Borders are partially supported, but might not look the same.
Themes	Not Supported	Not Supported
Hyperlink on shape	Not Supported	Not Supported

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