Take the 2-minute tour ×

I renamed a .xls file to .txt file but the .txt file shows like this:

öRn÷åËþEõZ;zûÕÃ·IÉD;Üÿêá¾ú‡×_*4u\çBq&?!€¨(ˆô‰/t/ª§‹'Oý?WïçþJ®½ãÁÁ|DiæEÇ’IŠ›ðä/\$r'Ù¡îê?|ÕÝê®²¸ó—QG¦çåÎŠ/–×ÒÏpQP~Q|å?‘ÈpÖ‘»ëËß62 Š/zaqçÎÖ©ú•ênÆ›WÚ·«àÙ}S«ˆº/~Ø×:U”¥‡7îTísvçùòl!ý0ýá»êéqx[T¯ß¿ø1 ¼ð…PïXáÃñ}ý«Å'gK)á*ÐÒm¦ŽØ™¯Püä©ïªÇÃ‹‹—‹U¡Jq5ÿ‚Šÿò6qúßŸX½ûuqi&×6êÞç~°ðÄÜ‹Òý¥Ÿø…cŸEão(ýNÖáÛ«îâW·‰ôîÏn¥zÚ¨—ÞŸqwø6XuÁËóñ¤;¢òhz¾&®û\â:çýÎxÒL\ïùJn2ì4ÓÖ¾‚{9˜Œ›‰<Ÿ¸qgØ0ä†Ï'®Ûë5¹Ñó‰ë›ò0~FšÜäù

How can I get the same data as in an .xls file?

share|improve this question
Do you mean, you changed the file's extension, i.e. renamed it? That wouldn't change its content then and you can just rename it back. –  foraidt Dec 8 '09 at 7:31

3 Answers 3

This can be done from within Excel by saving the file in a specific text format.

In Excel the process would be

  • Click on the Orb or press F12 to select Save As
  • In the Save As Type box select one of the valid Text Document Format
  • Enter a name for the new file
  • Click Save, and on the warning that appears select continue.

The How To Geek has an article here on how to save an Excel document as a Tab-Delimited text file for example.

share|improve this answer

The question is not 100% clear, but I'm guessing you want the data stored in a pure textual file, rather than something only Excel could read (If I'm wrong, ignore my answer).

You can save the file from within Excel into another format. From the File menu (or the big button on the ribbon in Excel 2007), choose "Save As". Then choose "Text (tab delimited) *.txt" in the "save as type" drop down list. Give it a new name and save.

Good luck =8-)

share|improve this answer

If the question relates to coding you can use xls converter for .NET. But it just for programmers. There is .net component for reading excel files.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

