Connect to & query an excel file

i need to know if there’s a way to connect to & query an excel file as if it were an sql (or any other) database.

connection to the original database is not an option. an exported excel file is all we have access to. would a .csv file be easier to work with?

if you can’t connect & query excel, is there a way to easily transfer or convert it (or .csv) to a database?