Microsoft Excel is one of the most resourceful tools of the Office Suite that is used to manage spreadsheets easily. Though, there are times when we wish to save an Excel file to a PDF format to maintain the authenticity of our data. Thankfully, with several inbuilt and third-party solutions, you can easily learn how to save Excel as PDF on Mac or Windows. Here, I will provide all the possible solutions on how to export Excel on Mac/Windows into a PDF format.
In this article
Part 1: How to Save Excel as PDF on Mac: 3 Smart Solutions
Learning how to convert Excel to PDF on MacBook Air, Pro, or other models is quite straightforward. You can try either of the following methods to export an XLS spreadsheet to a PDF format.
Method 1: Directly Save the Excel File as a PDF
If you don’t want to use any third-party solution, then you can utilize the Save as PDF option in Excel 2016 (and other versions). Ideally, the XLS file can directly be saved as a PDF document on your Mac or Windows PC with this approach.
Step 1: Open the PDF File on your Mac
To start with, you just have to locate the XLS document that is saved on your Mac and open it with MS Excel (and not any other application like Preview).
Step 2: Choose to Save the Excel File
Once the Excel file is launched on your Mac, you can go to its Menu > File and click on the “Save As” option.
Step 3: Convert the Excel File to a PDF Format
As a dedicated pop-up window is launched to save the file, you can enter its name, and select a location where it would be saved on Mac. Go to the “File Format” category and select “PDF” from the dropdown menu.
Now, to learn how to export Excel on Mac, you can click on the “Save” button and complete the process.
Method 2: Convert an Excel File to a PDF on Mac with a Converter Tool
If you want to learn how to save Excel as PDF without cutting off on Mac, then you can also use a converter tool. There are plenty of converter apps (online and offline) that you can use to make your job easier. One of them is the online Excel to PDF converter by Adobe that you can use for free.
Step 1: Load the Excel File to Convert
At first, you can just go to the official website of Adobe Excel to PDF converter on any supported web browser. Here, you can click on the “Select File” button to simply browse and load the XLS file from your Mac (or any other supported cloud-based platform).
Step 2: Upload and Convert the File
Once the Excel file is loaded, you can just wait for a while as the Adobe online application would upload and convert it.
As the XLS file is converted to PDF, you will be notified. You can now just click on the “Save” button to download the converted PDF document on your Mac.
Method 3: Convert Excel to PDF on Mac with a PDF Creator
If you have a lot of Excel files and would like to convert all of them to PDF in a batch, then you can simply use Wondershare PDF Creator. The Mac application is extremely easy to use and can convert multiple Excel, Word, and PowerPoint files to PDF in one go. While converting your documents, it will retain their data and all the other vital components.
To learn how to save Excel as a PDF on Mac with the help of Wondershare PDF Creator, the following steps can be taken.
Step 1: Load the Excel Files to Convert
Once the Wondershare PDF Creator application is installed on your Mac, you can launch it, and load your documents. You can click on the Add button on the application or can just drag and drop your XLS files to it.
Step 2: Convert XLS Files to PDF Documents
After loading your Excel files, you can simply get their details on the application. You can now click on the “Create” button to convert them to the supported PDF formats.
Step 3: Preview and Save your PDF Files
Lastly, you can just get a preview of your PDF documents to check the final results. Subsequently, you can click on the “Save” button to export the converted PDF documents on your Mac’s storage.
By following these simple steps, anyone can learn how to save Excel as a PDF on Mac for free.
Part 2: How to Save Excel as PDF on Windows: 3 Instant Methods
Now when you know how to export an Excel on Mac to a PDF format, let’s learn how to do the same on a Windows PC.
Method 1: Use Microsoft Excel to Save an XLS File as a PDF
Ideally, if you are using MS Excel on your Windows PC, then you can use the Save as PDF feature in Excel 2016 (and other versions) to meet your requirements.
Step 1: Open the Excel File
Firstly, you can just access the XLS spreadsheet on your Windows PC and simply open it on MS Excel.
Step 2: Save the XLS File as a PDF
Afterward, you can go to its Menu > File > Save As feature and choose to export the file on the local storage of your PC. From the File Format option on the side, you can click on the dropdown menu, and select PDF.
Now, you can just click on the “Save” button and go to any location on your Windows PC where you want to export the PDF document.
Method 2: Export XLS to PDF on Windows with an Online Converter
Just like Mac, you can also use any reliable online converter that can export your Excel documents into PDF formats. One of these online tools is provided by HiPDF that can directly convert Excel to PDF. To use the HiPDF Excel to PDF online converter, you can go through these steps:
Step 1: Load the Excel Document
You can start by visiting the official website of HiPDF on any web browser and can click on the “Choose File” button to browse and load your XLS file.
Step 2: Convert the Excel File
After the XLS file is loaded, HiPDF will let you know. You can now just click on the “Convert” button to start the process.
Step 3: Download the Converted PDF file
Once the conversion process is completed, you will again be notified. Now, just click on the “Download” button to save the converted PDF document on your system.
Method 3: Directly Print the Excel File as a PDF
If you are using a newer version of the Office Suite, then you can also take the assistance of the Microsoft Print to PDF extension. The feature is available in the “Print” section of the Office tool and can simply export your documents in PDF format in the following way.
Step 1: Load the XLS File on Excel
Simply open the XLS file on MS Excel and go to its Menu > File > Print option to explore the available features.
Step 2: Print the XLS File as a PDF
In the Print settings, you can just go to the target printer, and select the “Microsoft Print to PDF” feature instead of the default printer.
Afterward, you can just make the needed changes in the settings and can click on the “Print” button to save your PDF file.
Part 3: How to Save Excel as PDF on One Page?
A lot of times, while exporting Excel documents to a PDF, users encounter unwanted issues, like their data being broken into multiple pages. To overcome this problem, you can learn how to save Excel as a PDF on one page by following this trick.
Step 1: Open the Excel File and go to its Print Settings
Locate the XLS file on your system and just open it with MS Excel. Now, go to its Menu > File > Print to access the available settings.
Step 2: Fit the Excel Sheet as One Page
At first, you can just go to the Scaling feature in the settings, click on the dropdown menu, and choose to fit the sheet on one page.
Step 3: Select the Output and Save the Document
After making these changes, you can click on the dropdown menu for the available printers and select the “Microsoft Print to PDF” option instead.
Lastly, click on the “Print” button to get a new pop-up window that would let you select a location where the PDF file would be saved on your system.
Conclusion
As you can see, it can be quite easy to learn how to save Excel as PDF on Mac or Windows. To make your job easier, I have come up with step-by-step solutions on how to export Excel on Mac and Windows respectively. If you want, you can simply try the native features of MS Excel to export your files as PDF or can use any dedicated converter as well. Besides that, you can also follow the above-listed tutorial to learn how to save Excel as a PDF on one page without any issue.