ODS vs XLSX: Which Spreadsheet Format to Use?

Open Standard vs. Industry Standard

ODS (OpenDocument Spreadsheet) and XLSX (Office Open XML Spreadsheet) are both open, XML-based spreadsheet formats — but they come from very different worlds. ODS is part of the OpenDocument Format (ODF), an ISO/IEC 26300 international standard developed by OASIS and adopted by governments worldwide. XLSX is Microsoft's Office Open XML format, standardized as ISO/IEC 29500, and is the default format for Microsoft Excel.

In theory, both formats are open standards that anyone can implement. In practice, XLSX dominates the business world because Excel dominates the business world. ODS is the default in LibreOffice and is mandated by some government agencies that require open formats. Choosing between them depends on your audience, your software, and your requirements for interoperability.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Formula Compatibility

This is where the formats diverge most significantly. While basic formulas (SUM, AVERAGE, IF, VLOOKUP) work identically in both, advanced formulas have differences:

Formulas That Work in Both

• SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, MIN, MAX
• IF, AND, OR, NOT
• VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, INDEX, MATCH
• LEFT, RIGHT, MID, LEN, TRIM
• DATE, TODAY, NOW, YEAR, MONTH, DAY

XLSX-Only Features (Not in ODS or Translated Differently)

• XLOOKUP — Excel 365 dynamic lookup (no ODS equivalent)
• LAMBDA — user-defined functions (Excel 365)
• LET — variable assignment in formulas (Excel 365)
• Dynamic arrays (SORT, FILTER, UNIQUE, SEQUENCE)
• STOCKHISTORY, FIELDVALUE — connected data types
• Power Query / Power Pivot integration

ODS-Specific Behaviors

• Regular expressions in MATCH functions (enabled by default)
• Different handling of empty cells in calculations
• COM.MICROSOFT. prefix for some Excel compatibility functions
• Date serial number starts at different epoch in some implementations

Macro and Automation Differences

The biggest compatibility barrier between ODS and XLSX is macros:

VBA macros do not work in ODS files. LibreOffice has partial VBA compatibility mode, but it is unreliable for anything beyond simple macros. If your workflow depends on Excel VBA macros, XLSX is the only viable option.

When to Use ODS

Government and Regulatory Compliance

Many government agencies mandate ODF formats for document exchange:

• European Union institutions use ODF as a standard
• UK Government Digital Service recommends ODF
• Several US state governments mandate ODF for public records
• NATO uses ODF for document interoperability

Open-Source Workflows

If your organization runs on LibreOffice (common in education, non-profits, and government), ODS is the native format with the best performance and feature support.

Long-Term Archival

As an ISO standard with multiple independent implementations, ODS is a safer bet for long-term document preservation. If Microsoft discontinued Excel (unlikely but possible), XLSX files would still be readable, but the tooling ecosystem would shrink. ODS has multiple independent implementations (LibreOffice, Google Sheets, Apache OpenOffice, Calligra) that ensure long-term access.

When to Use XLSX

Business Environments

If you share spreadsheets with clients, vendors, or colleagues who use Excel, XLSX is the pragmatic choice. Excel has roughly 80% market share in enterprise environments.

Advanced Features

Excel's feature set exceeds what ODS/LibreOffice offers in several areas:

• Power Query (data import and transformation)
• Power Pivot (data modeling and DAX)
• Dynamic arrays (spill formulas)
• Connected data types (stocks, geography)
• Co-authoring in Microsoft 365

VBA Macros

Any workflow involving VBA macros requires XLSX. There is no practical migration path for complex VBA code to LibreOffice Basic.

Converting Between Formats

ODS to XLSX

libreoffice --headless --calc --convert-to xlsx input.ods

XLSX to ODS

libreoffice --headless --calc --convert-to ods input.xlsx

Batch Conversion

for file in *.ods; do
  libreoffice --headless --calc --convert-to xlsx "$file"
done

For more on document conversion, try our ODS to XLSX converter or the Document Converter.

What Gets Lost in Conversion

Quality and Interoperability Tips

Test formulas after conversion. Open the converted file and spot-check cells with complex formulas. Pay special attention to date calculations, lookup functions, and array formulas.

Strip macros before converting. If you do not need macros in the output, remove them before conversion to avoid compatibility warnings and potential security concerns.

Use simple formatting. Complex conditional formatting, custom number formats, and embedded objects are the most fragile elements during conversion. Stick to basic formatting for files you know will be converted.

Consider CSV as an interchange format. If you only need to transfer data (not formatting, formulas, or charts), CSV is the most reliable path between any two spreadsheet applications.

For more on spreadsheet conversions, see our guide on how to convert Excel to PDF and how to convert CSV to Excel.

Conclusion

XLSX is the practical choice for business environments where Excel is the standard. ODS is the right choice for government compliance, open-source workflows, and long-term archival. For cross-format workflows, keep formulas simple, avoid macros when possible, and always verify results after conversion. Both formats are technically capable — the deciding factor is your ecosystem and your audience.

Need to convert? Try our free Document Converter — no registration required.