1. Excel's built-in export (best if you have Excel)
Excel can write PDFs directly, and the output quality is excellent — vector text, correct fonts, embedded charts. The catch is that it exports whatever Page Setup says, and Page Setup defaults are almost never what you want for a wide table.
Before exporting, go to the Page Layout tab and set Scale to Fit → Width to 1 page and Height to Automatic. Then set Print Titles → Rows to repeat at top to $1:$1 so your header survives page two. Only then use File → Export → Create PDF/XPS.
- Pros: highest fidelity, includes charts and images, works offline.
- Cons: requires an Excel licence, and you can't see the page breaks until you preview.
2. Google Sheets (best if the file is already in Drive)
Upload the workbook to Drive, open it in Sheets and choose File → Download → PDF document. The export dialog has a genuinely good live preview with scale, orientation, margin and repeated-header controls all in one place.
The trade-off is that your workbook is now on Google's servers, and complex Excel formatting — nested conditional formats, some number formats, certain fonts — can shift during the import.
- Pros: free, good preview, no software to install.
- Cons: uploads your data, and round-tripping through Sheets can alter formatting.
3. LibreOffice Calc (best free desktop option)
LibreOffice opens .xlsx files and exports PDFs with File → Export as PDF. It is free, offline and handles large files well. Format → Page Style → Sheet gives you the same scaling controls Excel has.
Fidelity is good but not perfect: some Excel-specific fills and fonts are substituted, so check the output before sending it to a client.
4. Print to PDF (works everywhere, controls nothing)
Every operating system has a print-to-PDF driver: Microsoft Print to PDF on Windows, Save as PDF in the macOS print dialog. Open the sheet, hit print, choose the PDF option.
This is the least controllable route. You're at the mercy of the application's print layout, and it's where most 'my table got cut in half' complaints come from.
5. A browser-based converter (best when layout is the problem)
A converter that runs in your browser sidesteps both the licence question and the upload question. The one on this site parses the .xlsx locally, plans the page grid, and shows you that grid before you download — so a column that's about to spill onto page two is something you fix in two seconds rather than discover in someone's inbox.
The limitation to be aware of is charts and images: cell grids convert faithfully, drawings don't. If your sheet is chart-heavy, use Excel's own export.
- Pros: no upload, no licence, page breaks visible before export, free.
- Cons: charts, images and shapes aren't drawn.
Which one should you use?
If you have Excel and your sheet has charts, use Excel's export and set Scale to Fit first. If your sheet is a data table and the layout keeps fighting you, use a browser converter with a page preview. If the data is confidential, avoid anything that uploads — that rules out most online converters and Google Sheets.