2023 Update: How to Convert Excel to PDF without Losing Formatting?

Microsoft Excel is widely adopted due to its capability to display data or information professional. However, it has an annoying shortcoming on compatibility.

First, Excel is only available on Windows and MacOS, users on Linux or other operating system won’t be able to use; second, even though you have a Excel viewer that allows you to open and read Excel files, the format and layout will get messy because of compatibility issue. And this is just the reason why many Excel users choose to save as or convert to PDF once they finish editing on an Excel file, since PDF is highly flexible on different platforms and devices, also, the layout and format will be well maintained in a PDF file no matter which defaulted viewer you are using to open and view the PDF file.

And this is just the reason why many Excel users choose to save as or convert to PDF once they finish editing on an Excel file, since PDF is highly flexible on different platforms and devices, also, the layout and format will be well maintained in a PDF file no matter which defaulted viewer you are using to open and view the PDF file. But how to convert Microsoft Excel to PDF, especially without losing formatting? Here we bring several quick solutions to convert Excel to PDF for you.

How to Convert Excel to PDF without Losing Formatting?

Saving an Excel file as PDF is not difficult, but conversion without losing formatting is not easy. A dedicated Excel to PDF conversion software can make this process easier. How to choose one? The best Excel to PDF converter should have batch conversion to convert multiple Excel to one PDF,  and extended features to convert an Excel spreadsheet to an ideal PDF file.

Cisdem PDFMaster is one of the best.

It is a comprehensive Excel to PDF converter, full featured and great for converting, editing even OCR different types of PDFs. It has the batch support, allowing users converting multiple Excel and merge them into one PDF with ease. Once saved as PDF, you can use its Edit and Comment tool to create a PDF file as you like, for example, add or edit texts, images and links, highlight, draw, sign and so on.

Main features of Cisdem PDFMaster

• Edit PDFs with ease, add texts or images
• Convert PDF to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, image and so on, batch support
• Turn scans to editable or searchable PDF with OCR
• Convert Word, Excel, Powerpoint and other documents to PDF, batch support
• Add comments and annotations to PDF
• Fill out and create PDF forms
• Protect, redact or digitally sign PDF with ID
• Organize PDF pages

How to Convert (Multiple) Excel to PDF without Losing Formatting?

1. Download and install Cisdem PDFMaster to your Windows PC.
2. In the main interface, go to PDF Create, add all the Excel spreadsheet to the program.
3. Change the output name or enable Merge if you want to save multiple excel sheets as one PDF.
4. Click Create button to convert all Excel files to individual or merged PDF.

How to Save Excel Workbook as PDF in MS Office Excel

If you are using Microsoft Office on a regular basis, you must know that Microsoft Office allows users save the office files as PDF, that is, Word to PDF, PowerPoint to PDF, Excel to PDF. So, if you have installed Microsoft Office Excel, utilize it to do the conversion for you.

1. Open the Excel file with Microsoft Office Excel.
2. Click the File tab>Save As>PDF. Also you can choose the PDF quality, Standard (for publishing and printing) or Minimum size( for smaller size).
3. Click “Save” to convert Excel to PDF in Microsoft Office Excel quickly.

However, the shortcoming of this solution lies in the conversion result and absence of batch conversion feature. You may notice there are differences on layout and format between the original file and output PDF resulting from the discrepancy of these 2 formats itself, hence, if needed, adjust the PDF output after conversion. Still, you can only convert Excel to PDF one by one, so wait patiently if you have multiple Excels for conversion.

How to Convert An Excel Spreadsheet to A PDF File Online Free

Online service is another choice to convert Excel to PDF, especially when you are dealing with multiple non-private Excel files for batch conversion. 

Many users prefer to save Excel as PDF online also for the reason that they are able to convert the files at anytime, anywhere online even though they don’t bring along personal devices to work with them, since online service allows you to convert files from iCloud. Here we recommend 2 online programs to convert Excel spreadsheet to PDF well.

#1 Smallpdf

Smallpdf is online platform offering free services to manage PDF, from viewing, editing, splitting and merging, converting, to unlocking and compressing PDF. It is easy to use, you just need to follow the instructions on the webpage.

1. Go to Smallpdf, upload an Excel file to the program by draging file from PC, or importing from Google Drive or Dropbox.
2. Wait for the uploading and converting.
3. Once converted, click the download icon and get the PDF output.

The conversion processes very fast, but the free service is limited, users are only allowed to convert 2 files within an hour for free, otherwise, you need to pay or wait for one hour to continue the free conversion.

#2 Online2pdf

Online platform to manage PDF files for completely free, including editing, viewing, converting, protecting, compressing, etc. It supports batch conversion and allows users to customize the PDF output with a basic set of tools, such as PDF compression, adding protection and header/footer, and tweaking layout and format.

1. Go to online2pdf, and upload single or multiple Excel files by drag and drop. In the Mode menu, you can choose to convert all Excel files to single one PDF, or create PDF from each page of the Excel files.

2. Adjust the preferences to customize PDF output. Choose the tool as following and tweak the settings as needed.

3. Finally click “Convert” to save Excel as PDF. Once the conversion is processed successfully, a prompt will appear guiding you to save the file onto device.

Yet, as you may notice, there is a limit on file size and file quantity from this free program:

Being easy and free, these free Excel to PDF services easily make people flock to them, yet, as we have mentioned at the very beginning, users are not recommended to upload private or important Excel files for conversion, to expose yourself in the risk of information leakage. Still, users need to double check the PDF output, make sure if the data or format can be well retained since conversion quality is always the top issue annoys our online users.

Convert Excel to PDF without Formatting Loss If You Have Adobe Acrobat

There is another option to convert Excel workbook to PDF without format loss, if you have installed Adobe Acrobat on your device.

Besides letting users edit PDF with excellent editing tools, Acrobat has a powerful feature to convert PDFs. You can easily create a PDF from Excel file and highly maintain the original formatting. But if you don’t have paid Acrobat account, it would be pricey to convert files in Adobe.

1. Run Adobe Acrobat on your computer.
2. Go to Tools>Create PDF, import the Excel file and click Create.
3. The Excel spreadsheet will be converted to PDF and opened in Acrobat, you can edit or protect as you like.
4. Click Save button to convert Excel to PDF without format loss.

Conclusion

Here above are the quick Excel-to-PDF solutions used by most of the users in need. Before picking a solution to convert Excel files, users should be well aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each solution, not each solution fits in your case. And if any one of the workaround serves you to be best, please share with us in the comment.