download .xls file in php(cpanel) using href
<p>I had .xls file in report folder</p>

<pre><code>&lt;a href="http://website.com/report/salesList.xls" download&gt;
    &lt;input type="button" class="btn btn-success" value="Download Report"&gt;  
&lt;/a&gt; 
</code></pre>

<p>was not working. </p>

<p>Instead:</p>

<pre><code>&lt;a href="http://website.com/images/123.png" download&gt;
    &lt;input type="button" class="btn btn-success" value="Download Image"&gt;
&lt;/a&gt; 
</code></pre>

<p>was working.</p>

<p>Need to give any permission for .xls format files?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>