How to Open an MS Excel File Without Excel

1. Locate the Excel file you would like to open on your computer. It may be on your desktop, in a folder or in a portable disk drive. The file extension (portion of the file name after the period) will be '.xls' for spreadsheets created in Excel 2003 and earlier versions. For Excel 2007 and later spreadsheets, the extension will be '.xlsx.'
2. Right-click on the file name if you use a PC or press 'Ctrl' and click on the file name if you use a Mac. This will cause a menu, known as a context menu, to pop up with options.
3. Select 'Open with...' from the context menu. This will open a list of programs you can use to view the spreadsheet. In some versions of Windows, you may need to click 'Choose default program' to get the list of programs.
4. Find the recommended programs at the top of the list. If you have any other spreadsheet programs on your computer, they should be listed here. Microsoft Works, Apple's Numbers, Lotus 1-2-3 and OpenOffice Calc can all open Excel spreadsheets, although you may lose some formatting. If you have any of these programs, just click the program name and the computer will open the spreadsheet in that application.
5. Click 'Cancel' if you do not have any spreadsheet programs on your computer, or if you try the recommended programs and they do not work.
6. Open an Internet browser, such as Internet Explorer, Safari or Chrome, and visit Microsoft.com to download the free Excel Viewer software. (A direct link is listed under this article's Resources section.) This software will allow you to open and view an Excel spreadsheet, but you will not be able to edit the data.