Excel XLSX to JSON converter

XLSX to JSON runs through our table engine, returning an array of objects keyed by the selected sheet's header row.

Converted with Table engine · nothing stored
Free: 5 conversions a day · 5 MB each
Higher limits →

From real runs

What you get — and what changes

Element	Result	What happens
Header row	Changed	Column labels from the header row become JSON object keys; blank or duplicate headers are normalized so records stay addressable.
Data rows	Kept	Each non-empty worksheet row becomes one object in the output array.
Trailing blank rows	Changed	Empty trailing rows are dropped so accidental formatting far below the table does not become empty JSON objects.
Dates	Changed	Excel date cells are emitted as ISO strings; cells that were text remain text.
Multiple sheets	Changed	The sheet option selects one worksheet; multiple sheets are not combined into a single JSON file automatically.
Merged cells	Changed	Only the top-left value of a merged range is available, which can create empty keys or cells around merged headers.
Formatting	Lost	Colors, filters, comments, formulas, and chart objects are not represented in JSON records.

Header row Changed
Column labels from the header row become JSON object keys; blank or duplicate headers are normalized so records stay addressable.
Data rows Kept
Each non-empty worksheet row becomes one object in the output array.
Trailing blank rows Changed
Empty trailing rows are dropped so accidental formatting far below the table does not become empty JSON objects.
Dates Changed
Excel date cells are emitted as ISO strings; cells that were text remain text.
Multiple sheets Changed
The sheet option selects one worksheet; multiple sheets are not combined into a single JSON file automatically.
Merged cells Changed
Only the top-left value of a merged range is available, which can create empty keys or cells around merged headers.
Formatting Lost
Colors, filters, comments, formulas, and chart objects are not represented in JSON records.

Sample conversions

Customer sheet

Input: Workbook Customers: name | zip | signup_date, row: Lee | text 02134 | date cell 2026-09-10.
Output: JSON: [{"name":"Lee","zip":"02134","signup_date":"2026-09-10T00:00:00.000Z"}]. The ZIP stays text because the cell was text.

Merged report title

Input: Sheet has A1:D1 merged as "Sales Export", row 2 contains sku,region,total,paid.
Output: Choose headerRowIndex 2; otherwise "Sales Export" becomes the first header and nearby merged cells become blanks.

Workbook with lookup tabs

Input: Workbook sheets: README, Products, Regions. Products has id,name,price rows.
Output: Pick Products with the sheet option to get product objects instead of README text rows.

A real Excel XLSX → JSON run

We converted our Excel XLSX sample (17 KB) with Table engine on 2026-09-11. It took 1 ms and produced a 558 B JSON file, 97% smaller than the input. The engine raised 2 warnings, listed below.

Input · sample.xlsx · 17 KB

Workbook with 2 sheets (Pipeline, Notes); first sheet 5 rows, 25 cells, 0 formulas

Sheets: 2
Sheet names: Pipeline, Notes
Rows: 5
Cells: 25
Formulas: 0
frozenHeader: no

Output · sample.json · 558 B

Array of 4 objects; keys: company, stage, arr, owner, close_date

Records: 4
Keys: company, stage, arr, owner, close_date

Workbook contains multiple sheets; each sheet was exposed as its own IR table.
Only the first table was written to this single-table format.

First lines of the output

json

[
  {
    "company": "Northwind Traders",
    "stage": "Proposal",
    "arr": 48000,
    "owner": "R. Ayers",
    "close_date": "2026-10-14"
  },
  {
    "company": "Contoso Ltd",
    "stage": "Negotiation",
    "arr": 120000,
    "owner": "P. Ng",
    "close_date": "2026-09-30"
  },
  {
    "company": "Fabrikam",
    "stage": "Qualified",
…

Options and when to change them

sheet: Select the data worksheet when the first sheet is a cover page, pivot, or instructions tab.
headerRowIndex: Move the header row below report titles or merged heading blocks before converting to object keys.
dateHandling: Use ISO strings for API payloads; preserve text when the displayed spreadsheet date must remain unchanged.

Do it yourself

pandas

bash

python - <<'PY'
import pandas as pd
pd.read_excel("in.xlsx", sheet_name=0).to_json("out.json", orient="records", indent=2, date_format="iso")
PY

Set sheet_name and header explicitly for workbooks with title rows or lookup tabs.

csvkit plus jq

bash

in2csv --sheet Products in.xlsx > products.csv
python - <<'PY'
import pandas as pd
pd.read_csv("products.csv").to_json("products.json", orient="records", indent=2)
PY

The intermediate CSV step loses workbook-only features just like the conversion.

Excel XLSX to JSON by API or MCP

The HTTP API and the MCP server run the exact engine this page uses (Table engine); the response carries the same warnings the web converter shows. Check support first with GET /api/v1/pairs?from=xlsx&to=json.

curl

curl -X POST https://filetypeconverters.com/api/v1/convert \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FTC_API_KEY" \
  -F "file=@input.xlsx" -F "from=xlsx" -F "to=json" \
  -F 'options={"sheet":""}' \
  --output output.json

Options this engine accepts for Excel XLSX → JSON

Key	Applies to	Type	Default
sheet	Reading Excel XLSX	string
headerRowIndex	Reading Excel XLSX	number	0
dateHandling	Reading Excel XLSX	date · string	date
delimiter	Writing JSON	string	,
newline	Writing JSON	·
sheetName	Writing JSON	string
dialect	Writing JSON	postgres · mysql · sqlite	postgres
tableName	Writing JSON	string	data
createTable	Writing JSON	boolean	true

API reference

When this is the wrong conversion

Do not use XLSX to JSON when workbook layout, formulas, or visual formatting must be preserved.
For multi-sheet datasets that need relationships, export sheets separately and model the joins explicitly.
If you need compact analytical storage with types, convert XLSX to Parquet rather than JSON.

Excel XLSX to JSON questions

What JSON shape does XLSX to JSON create?

It creates an array of objects. Each row becomes one object and the selected header row supplies the object keys.

Can I convert a sheet other than the first one?

Yes. Use the sheet option to pick the worksheet you want before converting.

What happens to empty rows at the bottom?

Empty trailing rows are dropped so formatting artifacts below the data do not become empty JSON objects.