Working with Lotus 1-2-3 Spreadsheets

by Allen Wyatt
(last updated February 24, 2018)

2

You probably already know that Excel will easily open a wide variety of spreadsheets stored in other formats. One that it will open is spreadsheets originally created in Lotus 1-2-3. If you have some old 1-2-3 files and you want to make sure that they are treated, in Excel, according to Lotus 1-2-3 "rules," there are a couple of settings you need to pay attention to. These settings are available from the Options dialog box. (See Figure 1.) Choose Options from the Tools menu to display this dialog box.

Figure 1. The Transition tab of the Options dialog box.

Make sure the Transition tab is displayed. Notice the two options under Sheet Options; these are what you need to work with:

  • Transition Formula Evaluation. When checked, this option causes Excel to open and evaluate 1-2-3 files without losing or changing information. Based on the formulas in the 1-2-3 file, if this option isn't checked, then you might lose some data or some formulas won't calculate the same in Excel as they would have in Lotus 1-2-3. Specifically, with this option selected Excel evaluates text strings as 0 (zero), Boolean expressions as 0 or 1, and database criteria according to the rules used in Lotus 1-2-3.
  • Transition Formula Entry. If this check box is selected, then formulas entered in Lotus 1-2-3 version 2.2 syntax are converted to Excel syntax. This option should not be selected if you don't plan on saving the spreadsheet in Excel format.

Make your settings, as desired, then close the Options dialog box. Open the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet and Excel should process the file according to the settings you made.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (3057) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Updating Links

When you establish links between data on a target worksheet and data on a source worksheet, those links are typically ...

Discover More

Getting Rid of "Comment" in Comments

When you add a comment to a document, Word presents that comment in a very specific way. If you want to change the way in ...

Discover More

Determining Winners, by Category

Do you need to determine the top three values in a range of columns? The techniques discussed in this tip will come in ...

Discover More

Program Successfully in Excel! John Walkenbach's name is synonymous with excellence in deciphering complex technical topics. With this comprehensive guide, "Mr. Spreadsheet" shows how to maximize your Excel experience using professional spreadsheet application development tips from his own personal bookshelf. Check out Excel 2013 Power Programming with VBA today!

More ExcelTips (menu)

Crashing when Searching

If you use Excel's Open dialog box to search for files and you notice that doing so ends up crashing your system, you may ...

Discover More

Merging Many Workbooks

If you need to combine the contents of a bunch of workbooks into a single workbook, the process can get tedious. Here's a ...

Discover More

Loading Unwanted Files at Startup

Imagine how painful it would be if every time you started Excel it tried to load all the files in your root directory? ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is nine more than 5?

2019-07-28 11:54:20

Shanaya

Hello we have data stored in lotus 123 but we want to convert it into other software except excel as the data is humongous and excel won't be able To store it. Which other software we should use?

2019-03-08 14:26:49

Fred Spielmann

Trying to convert Lotus 123 spreadsheet, with commands to Excel. Went to option and clicked Transition navigation keys and transition formula evaluation and still doesn't work. Command problems are "/C name" and "+ctrl/pageup enter ctrl/r enter. /C name move the row of cells to whichever sheet I want it on and +ctrl/pageup enter ctrl/r enter, moves a cell value and row from one sheet to a cell with everything o to the right on another sheet.

What am I doing wrong?

This Site

Got a version of Excel that uses the menu interface (Excel 97, Excel 2000, Excel 2002, or Excel 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Newest Tips
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in ExcelTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.

Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR AUTHORS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2020 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.