How To Convert Word to Excel

Do you have a Word file that needs to be converted into an Excel spreadsheet? Maybe you’ve got several tables that would be easier to analyze in Excel than in Word. Or perhaps it’s a whole text document that needs to be converted to a Spreadsheet, for example, when you need to create an Excel database.

Whatever the situation, you’ll be pleased to learn that there are plenty of tools designed for Word-to-Excel file conversion, and most of them are extremely easy to use.

In this article, we’ll show you how to go about it.

Convert Word to Excel

Microsoft Word and Excel are both popular and sophisticated productivity applications in the workplace; there’s no doubt about that. However, they are used very differently.

Word’s primary function is to format text according to the preferences defined by the user. It can also be used for basic calculation functions using formulas, but that’s hardly its specialty.

On the other hand, Excel is a spreadsheet program that lets you track numbers in columns and rows. It has some word-processing ability but is unparalleled at crunching stats and converting figures into pie charts, scatter plots, histograms, and other statistical tools.

It’s also perfect when you need simple math functions, such as addition and multiplication.

So, does this mean Word and Excel can’t work together? Absolutely not.

If you have a table, numerical data, or even a plain text Word file, you can convert it into an Excel spreadsheet in just a few steps. That can help you analyze the data statistically or organize it in a format that’s easy on the eye and more presentable for your audience.

Let’s go over how to convert Word to Excel, depending on the type of device you’re using.

How to Convert Word to Excel From a Windows PC

Microsoft Office and Windows are a perfect match. Windows provides an environment where you can run multiple Office tools simultaneously. For example, you can write a Word report in one window while compiling financial data in Excel in another window.

The ability to shift from one Office tool to another in an instant comes in handy when you want to convert a Word document to Excel.

Here’s how:

1. Open the Word file you’d like to convert to Excel.
   
2. Click on “File” and select “Save as” from the left menu.
   
3. Choose the destination folder for the file.
   
4. As soon as the “Save as” window opens, select “Plain Text” from the drop-down list of all the possible output formats.
   
5. Click on “Save.” At this point, Word will export the Word file as text.
   
6. Open Microsoft Excel in a new window and select “Data” from the toolbar.
   
7. Click on “From Text” to import the text file you saved earlier. Excel will fetch the file and then display an Import Wizard
   where you can tweak various settings as you see fit.
   
8. In the Import Wizard, click on “Delimited,” then hit “Next.”
   
9. Select the desired delimiters (e.g., space, tab, and comma), then hit “Next.”
   
10. Review your delimiter preferences and then click on “Finish.”
    
11. Select the worksheet to import the data and hit “Ok.”
    
12. Save the Excel file.
    

After taking these steps, you can now open the Excel file and view the newly-formatted data. You can also use any of the other tools available with no restrictions.

How to Convert Word to Excel in Microsoft 365

If you love Microsoft Office but don’t have a Microsoft 365 subscription, you’re missing out on a lot. It’s the only plan that offers a complete package of Microsoft products.

With Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365), you get access to all the traditional Office apps like PowerPoint, Word, and Excel, plus a robust cloud infrastructure where you can store all your documents without having to worry about their safety and security. It also comes with real-time online collaboration tools for meetings to help you stay connected with your team while on the go.

Seamless file conversion is yet another feature that has endeared Microsoft 365 to Office lovers.

If you have Word files that need to be converted to Excel spreadsheets, you can do it all without the need for any third-party tools or web resources.

These steps will show you how:

1. Open the Word document of interest.
   
2. Click on the “File” tab in the top-right corner and select the “Save As” option.
   
3. Specify the folder where you want to save the plain text file you’re about to create.
   
4. When the “Save as” window appears, select “Plain Text” as the preferred file type and then click “Save.” At that point, you should see a file conversion window giving you a preview of the plain text file.
   
5. Click on “Ok” to close the conversion window.
   
6. Open Excel and create a blank workbook.
   
7. Click on the “Data” tab at the top of your screen and then click on “From Text/CSV.” This will allow you to import the plain text file you created earlier.
   
8. Navigate to the folder containing the text file and click on “Import.”
   
9. Provide additional information about the file to be created. Be sure to specify how you want delimiters to be used to split the data. Once you’re comfortable with all the settings, click on “Load.”
   
10. Save the Excel file.
    

The newly created Excel file can be opened and edited without any restrictions.

How to Convert Word to Excel From a Mac

Unlike Windows, the Office version for macOS doesn’t allow you to import full Word documents directly into an Excel spreadsheet. But there’s a workaround, and it involves the Cisdem PDF Converter OCR for Mac.

The c for Mac is a third-party tool that can accurately convert any PDF document to an Excel spreadsheet. That means you have to convert your Word document to a PDF and then finally create an Excel file. But don’t fret because the app can do all that for you.

Here’s how to go about it:

1. Download and install the Cisdem PDF Converter on your Mac.
   
2. After the app has been installed successfully, launch it, and click on the “Creator” button at the top of the window.
   
3. Drag the Word file of interest and drop it into the Cisdem app window.
   
4. Click on “Convert” and select “PDF” from the list of supported formats.
   
5. After creating a PDF document, click on the “Converter” button at the top of the window and select “Excel” as the output.
   
6. Click on “Convert.” The app will get to work and convert the PDF to an Excel spreadsheet.
   

How to Convert Word to Excel From an iPhone

One of the best things about Microsoft Office tools like Word and Excel is that they are also available on mobile devices. If your device is running iOS 12 or later, you can download and install all Office apps from the App Store and use them to create, edit, or view documents.

But there’s a catch: The Office apps for iOS don’t support conversion between any two file formats. That means you can’t import a Word document into Excel as easily as you would when using a PC.

Luckily, there are numerous web tools designed to convert Word docs to Excel’s XLS file format. One of the most popular tools is Word to Excel.

Here’s how to use Word to Excel to create Excel spreadsheets from Word docs:

1. Open Safari and visit the official Word to Excel website.
   
2. Upload the file you’d like to convert.
   
3. Under the “Save as” tab, select “Excel.”
   
4. Tap “Convert.”
   

Even if your file contains images, Word to Excel can export them into the Excel file in a suitable format.

How to Convert Word to Excel From an Android

Like iOS, the Office version for Android doesn’t support Word to Excel conversion. The only option is to use third-party web tools like Word to Excel. This is what you need to do:

1. Open your browser and go to the official website for Word to Excel.
   
2. Upload the Word file of interest.
   
3. Select “Excel” as the output format.
   
4. Hit “Convert.”
   

How to Convert Word to Excel From an iPad

If you have full Word documents or tables on your iPad, several web tools can help you convert them to Excel files for better presentation or analysis. Let’s go over exactly how:

1. Open Safari and visit the Word to Excel website.
   
2. Upload the Word doc from which you want to extract your data.
   
3. Go to “Save as” and choose “Excel.”
   
4. Press “Convert” to finish.
   

After conversion, the site allows you to download a copy of your Excel file and open it for viewing or editing, just as you would open any other Excel sheet on your iPad.

Edit Word Files Like a Pro

Microsoft Word and Excel may be built for different purposes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use both to further spruce up your document and mold the data into your desired format.

Converting a Word document into an Excel sheet comes with many benefits. For starters, you can use Excel’s statistical analysis tools to create tables or graphs for a more engaging presentation experience.

You can also split up the data into several classes for documentation or eventual uploading onto a website.

Have you tried to convert Word to Excel using any of the tools discussed in this article? How did it go? Let us know in the comments section below.