# Excel to Markdown Converter

> Turn spreadsheets into clean Markdown tables — rows and columns intact — ready for prompts, docs, and pipelines.

## Why copy-paste fails

- Tables collapse — Spreadsheet data pasted as plain text loses its rows and columns and becomes useless downstream.
- Multiple sheets — Workbooks with several sheets need each one labelled, not merged into one blob.
- Merged cells — Merged and formatted cells distort naive extraction; structure-aware parsing keeps the grid.

## Format notes

- One section per worksheet — Each worksheet becomes its own Markdown section with the sheet name as a heading, keeping multi-tab workbooks readable.
- Cells as Markdown tables — Cell data is rendered as a standard Markdown pipe table with the first row treated as the header row.
- Merged cells — Merged cells are flattened: the value appears in the top-left cell of the merged range and the remaining cells are left empty.
- Very wide sheets — Sheets with many columns produce wide Markdown tables that may wrap in narrow editors; consider trimming unused columns before uploading.

## Example output

Source: budget.xlsx

```markdown
## Sheet1

| Item | Cost |
| --- | --- |
| Hosting | $40 |
| Storage | $12 |
```

## FAQ

### Are sheet names kept?

Yes. Each sheet is labelled as a Markdown heading so multi-sheet workbooks stay readable and navigable.

### Does it support XLS and XLSX?

Yes, both legacy .xls and modern .xlsx are supported.

### What is the maximum file size?

The free converter accepts Excel files up to 10 MB. Larger files are supported on paid plans.

### How are merged cells handled?

Merged cells are flattened: the value is placed in the top-left cell of the merged range and the remaining cells are empty in the Markdown table.

### Are formulas preserved?

No. The converter captures the computed cell values, not the underlying formulas.

### What about charts and images inside the spreadsheet?

Embedded charts and images are not converted to Markdown; only cell data is extracted.

### Do I need to sign in?

No. Conversion and preview are free; download and history use a free account.

### Is there a developer API?

Yes. Convert Excel files programmatically via the REST API. See /developers for documentation.