Whether you’re a business owner, student, or just someone who needs to organize your personal finances, you likely have to deal with Excel and PDF files. Both are common formats for documents, but they have different strengths and weaknesses. In this article, they’ll explore how each format stacks up in terms of security and ease of use.
PDFs are more secure and are read-only files
A PDF file is a type of file that can be opened and read by anyone who has the software or browser to open it. A PDF file is read-only, which means that you cannot save changes made to the document in a PDF file. The content of your workbook will not change once it’s saved as a PDF.
PDFs are more secure than Excel because they are not saved as files with extensions like .xlsx or .docx, which allow others to access your data within those files.
PDFs are easier to store and distribute and are more compatible with other devices
Saving and distributing PDFs is easier than Excel.
The main reason for this is that you can’t change a PDF once it’s been created. This is because there are no editing tools in most PDF readers, so the file cannot be altered after creation. This makes them more secure in terms of data security, as no one can corrupt or alter the information within your document without your knowledge.
However, this does mean that anyone who has access to the file will be able to view it. So if you’re sharing sensitive information with someone else (such as account details or medical records), then you’ll need to think about how you want them to use it before sending out any digital copies of documents like these—perhaps by encrypting them first?
Converting Excel to PDF is also easy if you use a converter tool.
“Online Excel to PDF converter lets you convert Microsoft Excel files entirely online without requiring you to download any software,” Adobe Acrobat experts say.
Excel requires spreadsheets
You can use Excel to create, edit and share spreadsheets. But it’s important to remember that Excel isn’t a database; it’s simply a spreadsheet program. That said, storing data in one place is incredibly useful when you’re trying to analyze it later.
Excel might be your best option if you have large amounts of data that need analysis. However, it contains many features designed specifically for this purpose—such as sorting and filtering options—and there are even extensions available that allow you more control over how your data appears on the screen.
Excel allows you to perform calculations quickly
Excel allows you to perform calculations quickly. It is easy to use and has a lot of features. However, you can do more with Excel than you can with PDFs.
For example, if you have a large amount of data in an Excel file, it’s much easier for everyone involved to access and edit the information than if it were in PDF format.
They’ve compared the pros and cons of both PDFs and Excel. While there are many similarities between these two formats, one is better for some tasks and worse for others. If you want a secure way to distribute data that is easy to read, use PDFs. But if you need something more versatile with computation capabilities, Excel will be your best option.