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XLS Viewer is a convenient piece of freeware that gives users the ability to open Excel files natively

XLS Viewer is a convenient piece of freeware that gives users the ability to open Excel files natively

Vote: (59 votes)

Program license: Free

Developer: ByteScout

Version: 4.7.0.2045

Works under: Windows

Vote:

Program license

(59 votes)

Free

Developer

Version

ByteScout

4.7.0.2045

Works under:

Windows

Pros

  • View XLS files
  • Light editing of XLS files

Cons

  • No formula support

XLS Viewer lets you view and even edit Excel documents.

XLS Viewer is a freeware for Windows that lets you view—and even edit to some degree—Excel documents. It supports Excel spreadsheets or XLS but also most other formats that Excel can save in. It’s not limited to just Excel, however. If you have a document that Excel can create, such as CSV, that was created with a different program, such as Notepad, XLS Viewer can open and edit those as well.

Perhaps what makes XLS Viewer truly handy is that it doesn’t require Microsoft Excel or any aspect of MS Office to be installed. Perhaps you use Excel at work or school or but don’t own it home. XLS Viewer lets you take a spreadsheet with you to use later. Another scenario is using a spreadsheet on a device that doesn’t support full-blown Excel well, such as some Windows tablets and netbooks.

When it comes to viewing and editing, XLS Viewer provides a convenient yet fairly basic implementation. You won’t be able to change views or make advanced edits, such as adding a new calculation. Formulas that are already in place are fully supported and will be updated in real-time, but you can’t change them or add new ones. For that, you’d have to access the actual Excel program. While changes can made, there are some odd behaviors at times, such as saves causing font changes you didn’t request.

XLS Viewer continues to be updated by the developers and has even been transitioned over to the .NET Framework, which lets the program more easily support Windows 7 and 10 and new Excel features. Of course, there are a lot of free online options as well. Microsoft provides free support for Excel documents online that’s quite sophisticated. Google Docs has its own solution as well, but one way this program still manages to stand out is that it can be used locally and without an Internet connection. The Microsoft and Google solutions are cloud-based and don’t work offline.

Pros

  • View XLS files
  • Light editing of XLS files

Cons

  • No formula support