How to Convert Word to Excel in C#

Word and Excel are designed for different types of content - Word focuses on documents, while Excel is better for structured data and analysis. Because of this, working with the same content across both formats isn't always straightforward.

If you have data in a Word document that you'd like to view or process in Excel, converting it manually can be tedious. With Spire.Doc for .NET, you can now convert Word directly to Excel, making it easier to reuse Word content in Excel.

In this tutorial, you'll learn how to convert Word to Excel in C#.

• Install Spire.Doc for .NET
• Basic Word to Excel Conversion in C#
• Advanced Word to Excel Conversion Scenarios
  • Convert Only Tables from Word to Excel
  • Convert a Specific Page of a Word Document to Excel
  • Batch Convert Multiple Word Documents to Excel
• Notes and Best Practices
• FAQs
• Get a Free License

Install Spire.Doc for .NET

To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.Doc for .NET package as references in your .NET project. The DLL files can be either downloaded from this link or installed via NuGet.

PM> Install-Package Spire.Doc

Basic Word to Excel Conversion in C#

Converting a Word document to Excel with Spire.Doc is straightforward:

• Load a Word document using Document.LoadFromFile() method.

• Save the document as an Excel file using Document.SaveToFile() method.

This works best when your Word document contains structured content, especially tables, which can be naturally mapped into spreadsheet cells.

using Spire.Doc;

namespace WordToExcel
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Load the Word document
            Document document = new Document();
            document.LoadFromFile("C:\\Users\\Tommy\\Desktop\\Sample.docx");

            // Save as Excel
            document.SaveToFile("C:\\Users\\Tommy\\Desktop\\Sample.xlsx", FileFormat.XLSX);

            document.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

Output Results:

What Gets Converted Well?

When converting Word to Excel, it's important to understand how content is interpreted:

• Tables in Word are converted into Excel worksheets with rows and columns preserved.
• Paragraph text may be inserted into cells, but without strict structure.
• Complex layouts (floating elements, multi-column sections) may not translate perfectly.
• By default, each Section in a Word document is converted into a separate worksheet in Excel.

For best results, ensure your Word document uses clear table structures before conversion.

Advanced Word to Excel Conversion Scenarios

Once you understand the basic conversion process, you can handle more advanced scenarios depending on your needs.

Convert Only Tables from Word to Excel

If you only need structured data, extracting tables from a Word document is often more useful than converting the entire file. By default, all tables within the same section are placed into a single worksheet. To output each table into a separate worksheet, you can place each table into its own section before conversion.

To do this, you can work with the document structure and table objects:

• Use section.Tables to access all tables within a section.
• Use table.Clone() to create a copy of each table.
• Create a new section for each table so that each one is mapped to a separate worksheet in Excel.

This approach gives you precise control over the output and ensures that only relevant data is included in the resulting Excel file.

using Spire.Doc;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Load the Word document
        Document doc = new Document();
        doc.LoadFromFile("G:/Documents/Sample84.docx");

        // Create a new document to store extracted tables
        Document tempDoc = new Document();

        // Iterate through all sections in the source document
        foreach (Section section in doc.Sections)
        {
            // Iterate through all tables in the current section
            foreach (Table table in section.Tables)
            {
                // Create a new section for each table (each section becomes a separate worksheet in Excel)
                Section tempSec = tempDoc.AddSection();
                
                // Clone the table and add it to the new section
                tempSec.Tables.Add(table.Clone());
            }
        }

        // Save as Excel file
        tempDoc.SaveToFile("Tables.xlsx", FileFormat.XLSX);
        
        // Close and release resources
        doc.Close();
        tempDoc.Close();
    }
}

Note: Since each table is placed into its own section before conversion, each table will appear in a separate worksheet in the output Excel file.

Convert a Specific Page of a Word Document to Excel

In some cases, only a specific page contains the data you need — for example, a summary table on page 2 — use Document.ExtractPages() to isolate that page into a new Document object before converting. This avoids processing the entire file and gives you a cleaner, focused output. If you're only interested in structured data from that page, you can further extract tables from Word in C# before exporting.

using Spire.Doc;

namespace WordPageToExcel
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Load the Word document
            Document document = new Document();
            document.LoadFromFile("input.docx");

            // Extract the content of the specified page (e.g., page 1)
            Document pageDoc = document.ExtractPages(0, 1); // Retrieve page 1 (starting from index 0, retrieve page 1).

            // Save the extracted page as Excel
            pageDoc.SaveToFile("output.xlsx", FileFormat.XLSX); 

            document.Dispose();
            pageDoc.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

Note: Page boundaries in Word are flow-based and can shift depending on font rendering. If the extracted page doesn't match what you see in Word, verify the page index by testing with a few values around your target.

Batch Convert Multiple Word Documents to Excel

To convert an entire folder of Word files, loop through each .docx file and apply the same conversion. This is useful for bulk migrations or scheduled processing pipelines.

This approach can be easily integrated into background jobs or automation workflows.

using Spire.Doc;
using System.IO;

namespace BatchWordToExcel
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            // Get all Word files from the input folder
            string inputFolder = "inputDocs";
            string outputFolder = "outputExcels";
            Directory.CreateDirectory(outputFolder);

            string[] wordFiles = Directory.GetFiles(inputFolder, "*.docx");

            // Loop through each Word file and convert to Excel
            foreach (string filePath in wordFiles)
            {
                Document document = new Document();
                document.LoadFromFile(filePath);

                string fileName = Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(filePath);
                string outputPath = Path.Combine(outputFolder, fileName + ".xlsx");

                document.SaveToFile(outputPath, FileFormat.XLSX);
                document.Dispose();
            }
        }
    }
}

Tip: For large batches, consider wrapping the inner block in a try/catch so a single malformed file doesn't abort the entire run. If your workflow requires combining documents before conversion, learn how to merge Word documents in C#.

Notes and Best Practices

• For best results, use well-structured tables in Word.
• Avoid complex layouts like floating shapes or multi-column designs.
• For large-scale processing, consider handling files in batches to optimize memory usage.

FAQs

Q1: Which Word file formats are supported for conversion?

A: Spire.Doc for .NET supports both .doc and .docx formats as input. You can load either format using Document.LoadFromFile() and the library will handle the rest automatically.

Q2: Will the original formatting be preserved after conversion?

A: The conversion focuses on exporting content into a spreadsheet format. Structured content like tables is usually preserved with good readability, while complex layouts may not be retained exactly as in Word.

Q3: Is this feature suitable for large documents?

A: Yes, but performance may vary depending on document size and complexity. For large files, it is recommended to optimize memory usage and process documents efficiently in your code.

Q4: Can I further customize the Excel output after conversion?

A: Yes. After saving the converted .xlsx file, you can open it with Spire.XLS for .NET to further customize the output, such as adjusting cell styles, fonts, colors, column widths, or adding formulas. The two libraries are designed to work together seamlessly.

Conclusion

In this article, you learned how to convert Word to Excel in C# using Spire.Doc for .NET, from basic document conversion to more advanced scenarios like page extraction and table-focused processing. For more control over the output, such as adjusting fonts, colors, or cell formatting - you can combine it with Spire.XLS for .NET.

You can also explore other conversion features, such as exporting Word documents to PDF, HTML, or images.

Get a Free License

If you'd like to remove the evaluation message from the generated documents, or to get rid of the function limitations, please request a 30-day trial license for yourself.