What is this Excel to XML converter?
A free, browser-based tool that converts an Excel (.xlsx) sheet to XML. Drop a workbook, pick a sheet, and copy or download the result. All processing happens locally in your browser, so your spreadsheet is never uploaded and no Excel installation is needed.
Excel as the editing surface, XML as the machine handoff
Plenty of systems still take their data as XML: EDI-style order exchanges, government and regulatory submission formats, product feeds for shops and CMS importers. Nobody wants to maintain those files by hand in a text editor. The workable division of labor is to keep the data in a spreadsheet, where filtering, copying, and fixing typos is cheap, and generate the XML as the final step.
The generated structure mirrors the sheet: every data row becomes one element, and each column turns into a child element inside it, named after the column header. That mapping is the whole contract, which is why the header row deserves attention.
Header discipline makes the XML predictable
Element names come straight from row 1, sanitized into legal XML names: spaces and symbols are replaced with underscores, and a header starting with a digit gets one prepended. If the receiving spec expects <UnitPrice>, name the column UnitPrice rather than "Unit Price (EUR)" and you skip a round of renaming later. Blank headers fall back to generic column names, so fill them in.
Every row emits the full set of columns, with empty elements for blank cells, and characters like & and < are escaped automatically. What the conversion cannot know is the target's exact contract: root element, nesting, casing. Treat the output as your payload and run it against the recipient's schema or a sample file before submitting.
How to use it
- Drop an Excel (.xlsx / .xls) file, or click to choose one. It is read locally — nothing is uploaded.
- If the workbook has several sheets, pick the one to convert.
- Copy the XML result or download it as a file.
How the data is mapped
- Each row of the selected sheet becomes one XML record; cell values are exported as displayed.
- The XML shape is the generic tabular mapping: <rows><row><Column>value</Column></row></rows>, with column names sanitized into valid element names.
- Only the selected sheet is converted — pick another sheet from the dropdown to convert it too.
Example
Input (Excel)
Name Qty Apple 3 Orange 5
Output (XML)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rows>
<row>
<Name>Apple</Name>
<Qty>3</Qty>
</row>
<row>
<Name>Orange</Name>
<Qty>5</Qty>
</row>
</rows>Excel vs XML at a glance
| Format | Type | Structure | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel | Binary spreadsheet (.xlsx) | Sheets of rows × columns with typed cells | Editing in Excel or Google Sheets |
| XML | Plain text markup | Nested named elements plus attributes | System integrations, feeds, legacy APIs |
