The .ods file.
The open standard behind LibreOffice and OpenOffice. Almost interchangeable with Excel, and the exceptions are where the errors live.
What it actually is
OpenDocument Spreadsheet is an ISO-standardised format, and structurally it is the same idea as .xlsx: a ZIP of XML with one part per sheet. Anything that can read one can usually be taught to read the other.
The differences are at the edges. Formula syntax is namespaced differently, some Excel functions have no direct equivalent and become errors on conversion, and a workbook that has been round-tripped between the two applications frequently carries the scars.
For analysis this matters mainly because a great many .ods files started life as .xlsx, or are about to become one. The conversion is where formulas break, and a broken formula that still displays its last computed value is invisible.
At a glance
- Standard
- ISO/IEC 26300, OpenDocument
- Really a
- ZIP archive of XML parts
- Produced by
- LibreOffice, OpenOffice, Google Sheets export
- Formula syntax
- OpenFormula, which differs from Excel's in places
- Read here as
- Direct, like Excel
- Status
- Ready
- Fidelity
- Read directly
- Largest file
- 250 MB
LibreOffice and OpenOffice workbooks, read like Excel.
Upload one
The analysis runs before there is anything to pay for. You see what it found, and the evidence behind it, first.
No account needed to start. You only pay when you like what you see.
What goes wrong, and what is done about it
01
Formulas that broke during a conversion
A function with no equivalent in the other application converts to an error, and the cell often keeps displaying its last computed value. The number on screen is real and no longer connected to anything.
Formula text is read alongside computed values, so a cell whose formula is an error while its value looks fine is caught rather than trusted.
02
The same 1900 date problem, inherited
ODS supports Excel's date epochs for compatibility, including the phantom 1900 leap day, so a converted file carries the off-by-one with it.
The epoch declared in the file is used rather than a global assumption, and a document mixing both is reported.
Questions people ask
Should I convert to Excel first?
No, and converting is the risk rather than the fix. Round-tripping an .ods through Excel is where formulas break and cell types quietly change, so uploading the .ods directly is both easier and safer than repairing the damage afterwards.
Does it read every sheet?
Yes, including the ones that turn out to be notes rather than data, which are identified and used as context rather than analysed as a table.
What about a Google Sheets export?
Either one works. Google Sheets exports both .ods and .xlsx, and the .xlsx export tends to preserve more formula detail, so it is the one to choose if the sheet contains calculations whose workings you want read rather than just their results.