Convert Excel to Markdown
with MarkItDown
Convert Excel to Markdown for clean tables — one sheet or a whole workbook. Preview the result, then copy or download it.
Free for Excel to Markdown: .xlsx up to 20MB, three per batch. Pro: 100MB and batches of 50. Legacy .xls stays on the browser-side reader.
Convert Your Excel Workbook to Markdown
Drop a workbook below to convert Excel to Markdown. Server reads every sheet with Microsoft MarkItDown; Local uses the browser's own reader and also covers legacy .xls.
See What an Excel to Markdown Run Produces
Compare the same workbook across engines — an Excel to Markdown pass each way. Server output appears first; browser-local output provides the baseline. Excerpts are unchanged; full files are downloadable.
Both Excel to Markdown paths keep every sheet — the details differ
The workbook has two sheets, each with a title row above the table. The server (pandas) output exposes that title row as Unnamed: columns plus a stray NaN row; the local (SheetJS) output treats it as an ordinary first row.
View original workbook: workshop-budget.xlsx
## Summary | Workshop budget — Q2 | Unnamed: 1 | Unnamed: 2 | | --- | --- | --- | | NaN | NaN | NaN | | Line | Monthly | Covered by | | Venue hire | 420 | Council grant | | Materials | 300 | Ticket sales | | Instructor fees | 650 | This proposal | | Printing | 220 | This proposal | ## Materials | Item | Qty | Cost | | --- | --- | --- | | Glue sticks | 12 | 48 | | Safety goggles | 6 | 54 | | Extension leads | 4 | 96 | | Sandpaper sheets | 40 | 60 | | Paint tins | 8 | 72 |
Every worksheet arrives under its own heading, but the title row surfaces as Unnamed: columns with a stray NaN row — worth cleaning before the table ships.
## Summary | Workshop budget — Q2 | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Line | Monthly | Covered by | | Venue hire | 420 | Council grant | | Materials | 300 | Ticket sales | | Instructor fees | 650 | This proposal | | Printing | 220 | This proposal | ## Materials | Item | Qty | Cost | | --- | --- | --- | | Glue sticks | 12 | 48 | | Safety goggles | 6 | 54 | | Extension leads | 4 | 96 | | Sandpaper sheets | 40 | 60 | | Paint tins | 8 | 72 |
Both sheets survive as clean pipe tables, with the title row left as an ordinary first row. Legacy .xls files use this same path.
Settings: Same workshop-budget.xlsx. Unchanged saved captures from a live comparison.
AI OCR reads the photographed sheet inside the workbook
This workbook holds a photo of the sign-in table. The standard path converts the two text cells and ignores the image entirely; High-Accuracy AI OCR recovers the table.
View original workbook: workshop-photo-log.xlsx
## Scan | Sign-in sheet (photo) | | --- | | The photographed attendance sheet is embedded below. | ### Images in this sheet: *[Image OCR] June session sign-in Photographed at the workshop desk. Name Member since Session A. Okafor 2024 Repair L. Nguyen 2023 Sewing M. Silva 2025 Bike clinic J. Carter 2021 Repair Countersigned by the volunteer lead. [End OCR]*
The photographed sign-in sheet returns as readable text, every row intact.
## Scan | Sign-in sheet (photo) | | --- | | The photographed attendance sheet is embedded below. |
Without OCR, the embedded photo produces nothing at all — only the text cells survive.
Settings: AI OCR ran through the live service; the standard output comes from the same workbook.
Workbooks full of screenshots?
High-Accuracy AI OCR reads text inside workbook images — 10 pages a month on Free, 500 on Pro. Pro also raises files to 100MB and batches to 50.
AI OCR requires a free account. Standard conversion and local extraction stay free.
How to Convert Excel to Markdown
From a workbook to Markdown tables, in four steps.
- 01
Choose Where to Process It
Server is selected by default and reads every sheet with Microsoft MarkItDown. Choose Local before adding a file to keep the workbook on your device — Local is also the path for legacy .xls.
- 02
Add the Workbook and Read the Preview
Drop an .xlsx onto the panel or browse for one. Every worksheet becomes its own Markdown section in one Excel to Markdown pass, so multi-tab files stay readable.
- 03
Check the Header Row and the Numbers
Compare the first table with the spreadsheet: the server path may expose a title row as Unnamed: columns and a NaN row, while the local path keeps it clean. Formulas arrive as their calculated values.
- 04
Copy or Download the Result
Copy the Markdown or download a .md file. Excel to Markdown output drops into READMEs, wikis, Obsidian notes and AI prompts, while the workbook remains the source of truth.
What to Expect from Excel to Markdown
A spreadsheet carries more than values, and Markdown carries less. Here is what survives an Excel to Markdown run, what needs a look, and what stays in the workbook.
Every Sheet in One Pass
A workbook with many tabs becomes one Markdown file with a section per sheet, so nothing is lost between the tabs and the section headings stay traceable.
Header Rows: The Engines Differ
The server path can surface a worksheet title row as Unnamed: columns with a stray NaN row; the browser path leaves it as an ordinary row. Check the first table either way before you ship it.
Local or Server for Excel to Markdown
Local conversion keeps the workbook in the browser and covers legacy .xls. Server conversion uploads .xlsx over HTTPS, processes it temporarily and deletes the source right after.
Tables for Retrieval and AI
Rows arrive as pipe tables, which chunk cleanly and survive prompt pasting far better than a screenshot of the grid.
What a Spreadsheet Is Not
Formulas convert as their calculated values, not as formulas. Charts, cell colours, comments, conditional formatting and merged-cell layouts sit outside Markdown's vocabulary.
Free for Everyday Workbooks
Free covers .xlsx files up to 20MB in batches of three; Pro lifts that to 100MB and thirty files per batch. Preview first, download second.
Excel to Markdown — Questions People Actually Ask
What the conversion carries across, which files this page accepts, and how your workbook is handled during an Excel to Markdown run.
Is XLSX to MD the same as Excel to Markdown?
Yes. Every Markdown file uses the .md extension, so XLSX to MD, xlsx to md and Excel to Markdown describe the same conversion — the download opens in any editor.
Does this page convert .xls files too?
Yes, with a difference: .xlsx goes through the self-hosted Microsoft MarkItDown service when Server is selected, while legacy .xls uses the browser-side reader. Both are valid Excel to Markdown paths.
What happens to multiple sheets?
Each worksheet becomes its own section with a heading, in one pass, on both paths. Multi-tab budgets and inventories arrive in a single Excel to Markdown file.
Do formulas survive?
They arrive as their calculated values. Markdown has no formula syntax, so the grid is what you get — the right trade for prompts and docs, the wrong one if you need a live model.
Are merged cells and formatting preserved?
Merged cells are unwrapped into rows and columns, and cell colours, fonts, borders and conditional formatting are dropped. Markdown tables carry values, not presentation.
Can it read a scanned table inside a workbook?
The standard path ignores embedded images. High-Accuracy AI OCR recovers text and tables from those photos — 10 pages a month on Free, 500 on Pro. The examples above show both outputs.
Is Excel to Markdown free?
Free to start: .xlsx files up to 20MB, three per batch, no account needed. Pro raises files to 100MB, batches to 50, and adds 500 OCR pages a month.
How is my workbook handled?
A Local Excel to Markdown run keeps the file on your device. Server conversion uploads it over HTTPS, processes it temporarily and deletes it right after.
Can I convert CSV files as well?
Yes — the CSV converter and the table converter handle pasted rows and .csv exports, including tabs copied straight from Google Sheets.
What else can MarkItDown handle?
PDF reports, Word documents, PowerPoint decks, HTML, JSON, XML and plain text each have a converter on this site. The Markdown online editor opens any of those results for cleanup.
Does this page belong to Microsoft?
No. The service is operated independently by markitdown.tech and uses Microsoft's open-source MarkItDown Python library. Microsoft does not operate, endorse or host this online service.
Related tools: CSV files, pasted tables from Sheets or Excel, Word documents, and the Markdown online editor for cleanup. Real output lives in the conversion examples.
Ready for an Excel to Markdown Run?
Free to start. Drop a workbook above to run an Excel to Markdown conversion; the temporary source is deleted right after. Bigger files and batches live on MarkItDown Pro.
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