How to open an existing XLSX workbook and save it as XLS?

22 Dec 20224 minutes to read

You can open and save an existing .xlsx file to the .xls file by using XlsIO. The following code snippet illustrates this.

using (ExcelEngine excelEngine = new ExcelEngine())
{
  IApplication application = excelEngine.Excel;
  application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2013;

  //Open an existing Excel 2013 file
  IWorkbook workbook = excelEngine.Excel.Workbooks.Open("Sample.xlsx", ExcelOpenType.Automatic);

  //Save it as "Excel 97 to 2003" format
  workbook.Version = ExcelVersion.Excel97to2003;
  workbook.SaveAs("Output.xls");
}
Using excelEngine As ExcelEngine = New ExcelEngine()
  Dim application As IApplication = excelEngine.Excel
  application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2013

  'Open an existing Excel 2013 file
  Dim workbook As IWorkbook = excelEngine.Excel.Workbooks.Open("Sample.xlsx", ExcelOpenType.Automatic)

  'Save it as "Excel 97 to 2003" format
  workbook.Version = ExcelVersion.Excel97to2003
  workbook.SaveAs("Output.xls")
End Using
using (ExcelEngine excelEngine = new ExcelEngine())
{
  IApplication application = excelEngine.Excel;

  //Open an existing Excel 2013 file
  Stream inputStream = new FileStream("Sample.xlsx", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
  IWorkbook workbook = await application.Workbooks.OpenAsync(inputStream, ExcelOpenType.Automatic);

  //Save it as "Excel 97 to 2003" format
  FileSavePicker savePicker = new FileSavePicker();
  savePicker.SuggestedStartLocation = PickerLocationId.Desktop;
  savePicker.SuggestedFileName = "Output";
  savePicker.FileTypeChoices.Add("Excel Files", new List<string>() { ".xls" });
  StorageFile storageFile = await savePicker.PickSaveFileAsync();
  await workbook.SaveAsAsync(storageFile);
}
using (ExcelEngine excelEngine = new ExcelEngine())
{
  IApplication application = excelEngine.Excel;

  //Open an existing Excel 2013 file
  FileStream inputStream = new FileStream("Sample.xlsx", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);
  IWorkbook workbook = application.Workbooks.Open(inputStream, ExcelOpenType.Automatic);

  //Save it as "Excel 97 to 2003" format
  FileStream outputStream = new FileStream("Output.xls", FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.ReadWrite);
  workbook.SaveAs(outputStream);
  workbook.Close();
  excelEngine.Dispose();
}
using (ExcelEngine excelEngine = new ExcelEngine())
{
  IApplication application = excelEngine.Excel;

  //Open an existing Excel 2013 file
  Assembly assembly = typeof(App).GetTypeInfo().Assembly;
  Stream fileStream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream("App.Sample.xlsx");
  IWorkbook workbook = application.Workbooks.Open(fileStream);

  //Save it as "Excel 97 to 2003" format
  MemoryStream stream = new MemoryStream();
  workbook.SaveAs(stream);
  stream.Position = 0;

  //Save the stream as a file in the device and invoke it for viewing
  Xamarin.Forms.DependencyService.Get<ISave>().SaveAndView("Output.xls", "application/vnd.ms-excel", stream);
}

NOTE

Workbook must be saved in appropriate version, failing in this leads to file corruption.

See Also