Excel Spreadsheet — Legacy Microsoft Excel binary spreadsheet format.
Quick facts
What is .xls
A .xls file is a Excel Spreadsheet — Legacy Microsoft Excel binary spreadsheet format.
In the mime-db registry it maps to application/vnd.ms-excel, and it is marked as non-compressible. When serving .xls over HTTP, set the Content-Type header as shown in Developer info below.
Related entities: it maps to application/vnd.ms-excel — and is delivered over HTTP via the Content-Type header.
How to open .xls files
Developer info
When served over HTTP, responses should set the following header:
Content-Type: application/vnd.ms-excel
Common software that reads/writes .xls:
Relation chain
Related extensions
Related MIME types
Common uses
How to edit .xls files
How to create .xls files
Frequently asked questions
Common options include Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice, Google Sheets. You can also open many of these files with built-in viewers or a browser.
Create a new file in any text editor or the app that owns the format and save it with the .xls extension.
application/vnd.ms-excel is the media type identifier used for .xls files during network transfer (for example in the HTTP Content-Type header).
Sources & standards
Updated 2026-08-18
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