Open Old Files

Works .wdb to .xlsx and .csv

Convert a Works database to Excel

Moving old records into Excel, Google Sheets or a new database? Open the .wdb here, check the records look right, and save them as a spreadsheet.

  • Nothing is uploaded: files are opened on your computer
  • Free to view, print and save as PDF or CSV
  • Works on Mac, Windows, iPad and Chromebook

Drop your old files here

One file, a whole folder, or a ZIP. They're opened on this computer and never uploaded.

No file to hand? Try , or .

The converter downloads when you add your first file.

Three steps

First, drop the .wdb file above. The records appear as a table, with a column for each field.

Second, check it. Scroll through, and look at a few dates and amounts against what you remember.

Third, save it. "Save as CSV" is free and opens in every spreadsheet program. "Excel file" (part of the unlock) keeps numbers as numbers and dates as real dates, so sorting and sums work straight away.

Lots of databases?

With the one-time unlock you can drop a whole folder, or a ZIP of one, and get back a single ZIP with an Excel file and a CSV for each database, in the same folder layout. Works documents in the same folder come back as PDF and Word files.

Why not just use the old converter?

There used to be ways: Works itself could export to other formats, and a Java tool converted Works 3 and 4 databases. Works doesn't run properly on current Windows, browsers no longer run Java applets, and uploading a members' list to a free online converter is a privacy risk you don't need to take.

Questions about this

Do formulas or calculated fields come across?

Calculated fields come across as their values. Works databases rarely relied on formulas, so in practice the table matches what Works showed.

Which Works versions work?

Works 2 to Works 9 for Windows and DOS, and Works for Mac. Works 7 to 9 spreadsheets (.xlr) open too.

Free to open. £6 once for the rest.

Opening, reading, printing, PDFs of documents and drawings, and CSVs of spreadsheets are free, one file at a time, for as long as the site runs.

£6 one-time, no account

  • Word files (.docx) of documents, with formatting and pictures
  • Excel files (.xlsx) of spreadsheets and databases, every sheet
  • Whole folders or ZIPs converted into one ZIP

Coming soon. Everything free on this page works now.

Other old files

Microsoft Works databaseOpen a Works database (.wdb) fileMicrosoft Works word processorOpen a Microsoft Works .wps documentTwo formats, one extensionIs your .wps file from Works or from WPS Office?Microsoft Works spreadsheetOpen a Works spreadsheet (.wks or .xlr)AppleWorks and ClarisWorks .cwkOpen AppleWorks files on a modern Mac.cwk to .pdf, .docx and .xlsxConvert AppleWorks files to PDF or Word