In-depth guide for opening Excel files on your PC or phone

This wikiHow teaches you how to open an Excel file, and view the spreadsheet file's contents. You can use a desktop spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel, a web-based spreadsheet viewer like Google Sheets, or the mobile Excel app to open, view, and edit Excel spreadsheets on any computer, phone or tablet.

Method 1
Method 1 of 4:

Using a Desktop App

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  1. Find the spreadsheet file on your computer, and right-click on its name or icon to see your options on a drop-down menu.
  2. A list of available apps will pop up on a sub-menu.
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  3. This will launch Excel on your computer, and open the selected file.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 4:

Using Excel Online

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  1. Type or paste https://office.live.com/start/Excel.aspx into the address bar, and press Enter or Return on your keyboard.
    • If you're prompted, sign in with your Microsoft ID or Outlook account.
    • You can use Excel online in any desktop or mobile internet browser.
  2. This button looks like a blue, upwards arrow icon in the upper-right corner of the page. It will open your file navigator, and allow you to select a file from your computer.
  3. Find your spreadsheet file in the file navigator window, and click on its name or icon to select it.
  4. This button is in the bottom-right corner of the file navigator pop-up. It will upload your spreadsheet file, and open it in Excel Online.
    • You can view and edit your file in your internet browser.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 4:

Using Google Sheets

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  1. Type or paste https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets into the address bar, and press Enter or Return on your keyboard.
  2. You can find this button in the upper-right corner of your spreadsheet list, next to the AZ button. It will open the "Open a file" window in a pop-up.
  3. You can find it on a tab bar below the "Upload a file" heading in the pop-up. This will allow you to open any Excel file from your computer.
    • Alternatively, you can click the My Drive tab, and open a file from your Google Drive library.
  4. When you're in the Upload tab, you can just drag and drop any spreadsheet file from your computer here.
    • This will upload your Excel file to Google Sheets, and open it in your internet browser.
    • Alternatively, click the blue Select a file from your device button, and select your file manually.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 4:

Using the Mobile App

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  1. The Excel icon looks like a green-and-white "X" and a spreadsheet icon. If you don't have it installed, you can find it:
  2. This option will allow you to use the mobile Excel app on your phone or tablet without signing in to your Microsoft account.
    • Alternatively, enter your registered email, phone or Skype ID, and tap the green-and-white arrow to sign in to your account.
  3. This button looks like a folder icon on a navigation bar. It will open your available file sources.
    • On iPhone, it's in the lower-right corner of your screen.
    • On Android, it's in the upper-left corner of your screen.
  4. Selecting a source here will open all the files saved to this location.
    • If you're opening a file saved to your phone or tablet's local storage, select This Device or On My iPhone/iPad here.
  5. Tapping a file will open it in the Excel mobile app.
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About This Article

wikiHow Staff
Co-authored by:
wikiHow Staff Writer
This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. This article has been viewed 145,574 times.
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Co-authors: 6
Updated: June 28, 2024
Views: 145,574
Categories: Microsoft Excel
Article SummaryX

1. Find and right-click the file.
2. Hover over Open with.
3. Select Microsoft Excel.

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