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What is a .xl file?
#46536 10/01/17 10:33 AM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
I've got two Excel spreadsheets, one saved as a .xl file and the other saved as a .xls.

I just tried to find out the difference between the two, but I couldn't find so much as a single reference to a .xl file.

Does anybody know what it is and how it differs from a .xls?

Thanks.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: What is a .xl file?
artie505 #46537 10/01/17 11:55 AM
Joined: Aug 2017
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It might be due to a sloppy configured mime type list, where mime type “application/vnd.ms-excel” is linked to .xl or .xl* as a shortcut for .xls/.xlt/.xla, but it should have separate entries for all variations. Spreadsheet data might then default to .xl on file creation. (This can happen e.g. when website database data is exported to a download file on the fly.)
Once an Excel file has the .xl suffix, Excel is happy to keep it that way on consecutive saves/modifications.
Feel free to fix it manually. “.xls” if you know it to be a regular workbook; “.xlt” if you know it to be a template; “.xla” if you know it to be an Add-In (custom functions and definitions).

Or someone used backspace without realizing it.

Re: What is a .xl file?
Urquhart #46540 10/01/17 09:44 PM
Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
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Joined: Aug 2009
Likes: 15
Thanks.

I changed the .xl (As you said, the file did open.) to .xls, and my desktop looks familiar again.

I'm at a complete loss as to what happened. The touch on my 2015 MBP's keyboard is so light that running a dust cloth across it frequently results in files/folders being selected and having their names either deleted or changed to odd character combos, but deletion of that "s" would have required a click...impossible, because my trackpad doesn't respond to pressure on the cloth. confused crazy


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire

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