What Is an XLTX File?

This is a spreadsheet template created by Excel

By

Tim Fisher

Updated on December 8, 2022

File Types

What to Know

An XLTX file is an Excel spreadsheet template that's used to create multiple spreadsheets with the same layout.
Open one with Excel, WPS Office, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, or SoftMaker FreeOffice.
Use those same apps, or FileZigZag, to convert one to other Excel formats or PDF, CSV, HTML, etc.

This article explains what an XLTX file is, how to open one, and how to convert one to a different file format.

What Is an XLTX File?

A file with the XLTX file extension is an Excel Open XML spreadsheet template file. This Microsoft Excel format is used to build multiple XLSX files that contain the same layouts, formatting, and settings.

The XLTX format replaced the older XLT template format from Office 2007 and earlier (which creates similar XLS files). It incorporates XML and ZIP to reduce the file size.

Instructions in this article apply to all versions of Excel from v2010 onward, including Excel for Mac and Excel 365/Online.

How to Open an XLTX File

XLTX files are normally only used with Excel. You can open XLTX files in Excel versions older than 2007 if you install the free Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack.

How to Create Spreadsheet Templates in Excel

The following free software can open the XLTX format as well; they just can't save the file back to XLTX (it has to be saved as something else like XLSX or XLT): WPS Office Spreadsheet, OpenOffice Calc, LibreOffice Calc, and SoftMaker FreeOffice PlanMaker.

You can also open the file with a file decompression tool, since XLTX files are actually archives. However, it's hardly a useful way to view the file's contents, since it doesn't display the document like it would when opened in Excel. If you do want to go this route, 7-Zip and PeaZip are two file decompression tools that could be used to open the XLTX file as an archive.

If you find that an application on your PC does try to open the XLTX file, but it's the wrong application or if you would rather have another installed program open XLTX files, you can change the default program that opens this file in Windows.

How to Convert an XLTX File

The quickest way to convert an XLTX file to XLSX or XLS is to use one of the XLTX viewers/editors from above, like Excel, which supports converting to both formats. The other applications listed above may only support one or the other.

Another easy way to convert an XLTX file is to use FileZigZag. It's an online file converter that can save an XLTX file to XLS, CSV, ODS, OTS, PDF, TXT, and several other formats.

Go to FileZigZag, and either select Browse for Files or drag and drop the XLTX file you wish to convert.
When the Open dialog comes up, browse to the file(s) you wish to convert. Select it, then select Open.
Under Files to convert, you should see the file(s) you've added. Select the format you wish to convert to under Target Format.
Select Start Converting.
Once the file is converted, select Download to put it on your computer.

Still Can't Open It?

If your file doesn't open or convert using the suggestions from above, then there's a high probability that it doesn't really end with the XLTX file extension.

For example, XTL files appear to be related in some way to XLTX files because their file extension closely resembles that of the spreadsheet file format. However, XTL files are actually data files used by the Vietcong video game.

LTX is a similar one where the file extension looks a lot like XLTX, but its format is not related in any way. LTX files might be S.T.A.L.K.E.R. properties files or LaTeX documents.

If it's not clear already, the whole reason you should be fully aware of the file extension is to make sure that you're using the appropriate program to open it. If you're not dealing with an XLTX file, then research the true file extension that your file has so that you can find out which programs can open or convert it.

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