How to Find XLS

Microsoft Excel is one of the most common spreadsheet programs in use. Excel creates spreadsheet files with an .XLS extension. There are several techniques you can use to find .XLS files.

Instructions

1

Use Google to find .XLS files. Google's filetype syntax will search for files with a particular file extension. For example, search on: financial filetype:xls. This will return thousands of financial spreadsheet files with the .XLS extension.

2

Find .XLS files in your file directories. Use your computer's "Search" function to find .XLS files that have already been saved on your computer.

Open "Search" by clicking on the "Start" button in the lower left of your screen. In Windows Vista, enter XLS in the search box to find relevant files. On older operating systems, such as Windows XP, click on the search function to first open the search dialogue box, and then search on XLS.

3

Find .XLS files with Excel. Open your Excel spreadsheet program and use the "File" pull-down menu to search for .XLS files. Select the "Open" item from the pull-down menu. This brings up a directory that automatically displays available .XLS files stored as an Excel document.

Select other folders on your computer if you want to explore .XLS files that you may have stored in folders other than your Excel program folders.