diff --git a/lightrag/api/routers/document_routes.py b/lightrag/api/routers/document_routes.py
index dd6d7fd8..85183bbd 100644
--- a/lightrag/api/routers/document_routes.py
+++ b/lightrag/api/routers/document_routes.py
@@ -992,6 +992,30 @@ def _extract_docx(file_bytes: bytes) -> str:
     docx_file = BytesIO(file_bytes)
     doc = Document(docx_file)
 
+    def escape_cell(cell_value: str | None) -> str:
+        """Escape characters that would break tab-delimited layout.
+
+        Escape order is critical: backslashes first, then tabs/newlines.
+        This prevents double-escaping issues.
+
+        Args:
+            cell_value: The cell value to escape (can be None or str)
+
+        Returns:
+            str: Escaped cell value safe for tab-delimited format
+        """
+        if cell_value is None:
+            return ""
+        text = str(cell_value)
+        # CRITICAL: Escape backslash first to avoid double-escaping
+        return (
+            text.replace("\\", "\\\\")  # Must be first: \ -> \\
+            .replace("\t", "\\t")  # Tab -> \t (visible)
+            .replace("\r\n", "\\n")  # Windows newline -> \n
+            .replace("\r", "\\n")  # Mac newline -> \n
+            .replace("\n", "\\n")  # Unix newline -> \n
+        )
+
     content_parts = []
     in_table = False  # Track if we're currently processing a table
 
@@ -1021,8 +1045,8 @@ def _extract_docx(file_bytes: bytes) -> str:
                 row_text = []
                 for cell in row.cells:
                     cell_text = cell.text
-                    # Always append cell text to preserve column structure
-                    row_text.append(cell_text)
+                    # Escape special characters to preserve tab-delimited structure
+                    row_text.append(escape_cell(cell_text))
                 # Only add row if at least one cell has content
                 if any(cell for cell in row_text):
                     content_parts.append("\t".join(row_text))
@@ -1052,27 +1076,112 @@ def _extract_pptx(file_bytes: bytes) -> str:
 
 
 def _extract_xlsx(file_bytes: bytes) -> str:
-    """Extract XLSX content (synchronous).
+    """Extract XLSX content in tab-delimited format with clear sheet separation.
+
+    This function processes Excel workbooks and converts them to a structured text format
+    suitable for LLM prompts and RAG systems. Each sheet is clearly delimited with
+    separator lines, and special characters are escaped to preserve the tab-delimited structure.
+
+    Features:
+    - Each sheet is wrapped with '====================' separators for visual distinction
+    - Special characters (tabs, newlines, backslashes) are escaped to prevent structure corruption
+    - Column alignment is preserved across all rows to maintain tabular structure
+    - Empty rows are preserved as blank lines to maintain row structure
+    - Uses sheet.max_column to determine column width efficiently
 
     Args:
         file_bytes: XLSX file content as bytes
 
     Returns:
-        str: Extracted text content
+        str: Extracted text content with all sheets in tab-delimited format.
+             Format: Sheet separators, sheet name, then tab-delimited rows.
+
+    Example output:
+        ==================== Sheet: Data ====================
+        Name\tAge\tCity
+        Alice\t30\tNew York
+        Bob\t25\tLondon
+
+        ==================== Sheet: Summary ====================
+        Total\t2
+        ====================
     """
     from openpyxl import load_workbook  # type: ignore
 
     xlsx_file = BytesIO(file_bytes)
     wb = load_workbook(xlsx_file)
-    content = ""
-    for sheet in wb:
-        content += f"Sheet: {sheet.title}\n"
+
+    def escape_cell(cell_value: str | int | float | None) -> str:
+        """Escape characters that would break tab-delimited layout.
+
+        Escape order is critical: backslashes first, then tabs/newlines.
+        This prevents double-escaping issues.
+
+        Args:
+            cell_value: The cell value to escape (can be None, str, int, or float)
+
+        Returns:
+            str: Escaped cell value safe for tab-delimited format
+        """
+        if cell_value is None:
+            return ""
+        text = str(cell_value)
+        # CRITICAL: Escape backslash first to avoid double-escaping
+        return (
+            text.replace("\\", "\\\\")  # Must be first: \ -> \\
+            .replace("\t", "\\t")  # Tab -> \t (visible)
+            .replace("\r\n", "\\n")  # Windows newline -> \n
+            .replace("\r", "\\n")  # Mac newline -> \n
+            .replace("\n", "\\n")  # Unix newline -> \n
+        )
+
+    def escape_sheet_title(title: str) -> str:
+        """Escape sheet title to prevent formatting issues in separators.
+
+        Args:
+            title: Original sheet title
+
+        Returns:
+            str: Sanitized sheet title with tabs/newlines replaced
+        """
+        return str(title).replace("\n", " ").replace("\t", " ").replace("\r", " ")
+
+    content_parts: list[str] = []
+    sheet_separator = "=" * 20
+
+    for idx, sheet in enumerate(wb):
+        if idx > 0:
+            content_parts.append("")  # Blank line between sheets for readability
+
+        # Escape sheet title to handle edge cases with special characters
+        safe_title = escape_sheet_title(sheet.title)
+        content_parts.append(f"{sheet_separator} Sheet: {safe_title} {sheet_separator}")
+
+        # Use sheet.max_column to get the maximum column width directly
+        max_columns = sheet.max_column if sheet.max_column else 0
+
+        # Extract rows with consistent width to preserve column alignment
         for row in sheet.iter_rows(values_only=True):
-            content += (
-                "\t".join(str(cell) if cell is not None else "" for cell in row) + "\n"
-            )
-        content += "\n"
-    return content
+            row_parts = []
+
+            # Build row up to max_columns width
+            for idx in range(max_columns):
+                if idx < len(row):
+                    row_parts.append(escape_cell(row[idx]))
+                else:
+                    row_parts.append("")  # Pad short rows
+
+            # Check if row is completely empty
+            if all(part == "" for part in row_parts):
+                # Preserve empty rows as blank lines (maintains row structure)
+                content_parts.append("")
+            else:
+                # Join all columns to maintain consistent column count
+                content_parts.append("\t".join(row_parts))
+
+    # Final separator for symmetry (makes parsing easier)
+    content_parts.append(sheet_separator)
+    return "\n".join(content_parts)
 
 
 async def pipeline_enqueue_file(