DOTM to XLS Converter

Convert DOTM templates to XLS spreadsheets — free online

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Document to Spreadsheet

Pull tabular content from your DOTM template into a structured XLS file ready for calculations, charts, and data analysis.

Cloud-Powered

The conversion runs on Convertio servers — your device is not burdened with processing, regardless of file size or complexity.

Access from Any Device

Convert on Windows, Mac, Linux, or mobile — the browser-based converter adapts to any screen and requires no local software.

How to convert DOTM to XLS

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose xls or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your xls file right afterwards

About formats

DOTM is a macro-enabled template format for Microsoft Word, introduced with Office 2007 as part of the Office Open XML family. DOTM combines the template functionality of DOTX — providing reusable styles, page layouts, boilerplate content, and formatting definitions — with the ability to embed VBA macro code that executes in documents created from the template. The format is a ZIP archive containing XML parts for styles, document defaults, and theme definitions, plus a vbaProject.bin stream for the VBA project. This combination enables organizations to distribute not just visual consistency but also functional automation: every document created from a DOTM template inherits both the formatting framework and programmatic capabilities. Common use cases include templates that auto-populate document fields from corporate directories, enforce naming conventions, generate tables of contents, insert dynamic headers with project metadata, or validate document structure before submission. One advantage is embedded workflow automation — a DOTM template can include initialization macros that configure the document environment, register custom ribbon commands, and connect to data sources the moment a new document is created from it. The distinct .dotm extension allows administrators to apply differentiated trust policies for macro-containing templates versus standard DOTX files. DOTM is supported exclusively in Microsoft Word desktop editions where VBA execution is available.
Developer: Microsoft
Initial release: January 30, 2007
XLS is the binary spreadsheet format of Microsoft Excel, first introduced with Excel 1.0 for Macintosh in September 1985 and becoming the dominant spreadsheet format worldwide. The format stores workbooks as OLE2 compound document files using the Binary Interchange File Format (BIFF), organizing sheets, cells, formulas, formatting, charts, pivot tables, macros, and metadata across multiple internal streams. Each cell record encodes the cell's value (number, string, boolean, error, or formula), position, and formatting index, while shared string tables and style records reduce redundancy. The format evolved through BIFF versions (BIFF2 through BIFF8), with BIFF8 (Excel 97) establishing the structure used through Excel 2003. XLS supports up to 65,536 rows and 256 columns per sheet, a limit that drove the creation of XLSX. One advantage is universal spreadsheet compatibility — XLS files are recognized by every major spreadsheet application including LibreOffice Calc, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers, and dozens of programming libraries across all platforms. The format's mature feature set is another strength: XLS handles complex formulas, conditional formatting, data validation, named ranges, array formulas, external references, and VBA macros. Although XLSX replaced XLS as the default in Office 2007, the binary format persists in financial institutions, legacy reporting systems, and any environment where Excel 97-2003 compatibility is required.
Developer: Microsoft
Initial release: September 1985

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert DOTM to XLS?

Tabular data inside a DOTM template can be restructured into an XLS spreadsheet for sorting, filtering, and calculation tasks.

What programs open XLS files?

Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc, WPS Spreadsheets, and Apple Numbers all support the XLS format natively.

Do macros transfer to XLS?

No — VBA macros specific to Word templates do not carry over. XLS receives only the data and table content from the DOTM file.

Will table formatting be kept?

Table structures and basic cell formatting transfer. Complex Word-specific layouts may be simplified to fit the spreadsheet grid.

Is this conversion free?

Yes — standard DOTM to XLS conversions are free on Convertio. Premium options exist for larger files and higher volume needs.

Can I convert several DOTM files?

Sure — upload multiple templates at once and batch convert them to XLS in a single session for maximum efficiency.

DOTM to XLS Quality Rating

4.3 (11 votes)
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