Microsoft Excel Viewer: How to Download, Install, and Use
Never heard of Microsoft Excel Viewer before?
Not a problem – this guide will take you through everything you need to know about it.
As the name suggests, Excel viewer is an application that helps you launch and view (.xlsx) Excel format files.
What features does it offer, why might you need it, and what other alternatives does it have? Learn this and much more about Excel Viewer in this article😉
So without further ado, let’s get right into it.
Table of Contents
What is the Excel Viewer?
Excel Viewer is a spreadsheet management application. It is a freely distributable program created by Microsoft for you to manage your Excel files. You can use it to open, view, copy and print document files.
But it isn’t only limited to viewing and printing Excel workbooks. It also provides editing tools. You can modify the cells and data in Excel Viewer just as you would in an Excel spreadsheet.
You can also use Excel Viewer to convert excel files into popular table file formats. This is what it looks like:
Free Excel Viewer is useful for people who do not have MS Excel installed on their PCs and prefer working without it. It has been around for the last two decades and has constantly been improving🤗
All in all, Excel Viewer can be a handy tool if you don’t have Excel or just need some simple features for everyday calculations. Let’s see how you can download the software.
How to install and use the Excel Viewer
Installing Excel Viewer is a few steps process. You can either get it from the official website of Microsoft Office. Or install it directly from our website.
Once you have the file downloaded:
- Launch it from the Start Menu.
- Select the Excel file you want to view in Excel Viewer.
- Excel Viewer displays the file in the software as:
You can now edit the sheet, print it, or even copy it to other excel workbooks😉
Here’s a short tutorial to quickly take you through the installation process.
Limitations of the Excel Viewer
Although the Excel Viewer is an excellent tool for viewing Excel files, it has its fair share of limitations. Some functions and features you cannot access in Excel Viewer include:
- You can’t create a new workbook.
- You can’t add tables and charts.
- You can’t use formulas other than AVG, SUM, MAX, MIN, & COUNTIF.
- You can’t save changes to a worksheet.
System requirements
MS Office released the latest version of Excel Viewer in 2018. It is compatible with the following Operating Systems:
- Window Server (2003 & 2008)
- Windows Vista
- Windows XP
- Windows 7
Although Windows 7 is officially the last version of Windows that supports Excel Viewer, the software works fine on other versions too.
We installed the Excel Viewer on Windows 10 and 11, and it worked perfectly. So regardless of the version of Windows you are using, you can run Excel Viewer on it just fine😀
Excel Viewer was discontinued by Microsoft Office in April 2018 but just as mentioned above, it can still be used.
Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office SpecialistExcel Viewer compatibility and supported formats
Free Excel Viewer supports the following MS Office Excel versions:
- MS Excel 97
- MS Excel 2000
- MS Excel 2002
- MS Excel 2003
- MS Excel 2007
- MS Excel 2010
We ran an Excel 2022 file on the latest version of Excel Viewer, and the execution was smooth. So even though the last official Excel version compatible with Excel Viewer is MS Excel 2010, you can use it on other newer versions too.
Excel Viewer can run files in different formats. These are Excel .xls, .xlsx, .xlm, .xlsb, .xlw, .xltx, .xlt, and .xltm.
Although you can open .xlsm in Excel Viewer, you won’t be able to run a macro-enabled file😕
.xlsb stands for Excel Binary Workbook.
Kasper Langmann, Microsoft Office SpecialistYou can also convert and export your Excel file into other formats like PDF, HTML, XML, SVG, CSV, ODS, and XPS.
Free alternatives to Excel Viewer
The Excel viewer offers ease of opening, viewing, editing, and printing files in Excel. But in case, Excel Viewer doesn’t work for you; you should always have a backup 💾
That’s why we have listed four superb alternatives to Excel viewer. These are as follows:
OneDrive: With Windows OneDrive, viewing and editing Excel files has become easier than ever before. It provides an Excel web app that works online, and you can open files directly from the browser. You can even edit the Excel file if you view it on the OneDrive Desktop.
Open Office: Open Office is an open-source program. It lets you create and edit spreadsheets and graphics for free. It works on almost all PCs and offers multiple languages.
Zoho Sheet: It lets you view and edit your .xlsx files online for free. With Zoho Sheet, you can collaborate with your friends in real time. This helps improve work speed and efficiency.
Google Sheets: With Google Sheets, you can view, edit, copy and print Excel workbooks in seconds. You can even work on a spreadsheet with your co-worker simultaneously. Its increased ease of use and advanced features make it the best alternative to Excel Viewer.
Conclusion
Free Excel Viewer is a great tool to view and edit Excel files if you don’t have MS Excel software installed. You can easily copy, print, and even convert your file to other formats using Excel viewer.
You might question the need for a viewer program when you can simply use the giant spreadsheet software Excel itself.
Well, that’s because sometimes people don’t need the entire MS Excel software. But a simple viewer to do some everyday calculations.
In that case, Excel Viewer can be a pretty resourceful tool with minimal functions. If you want to try it yourself, download it today! 🚀