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How to Import Data into Excel: Complete Guide

Learn how to import data from various sources into Excel. Discover methods to import CSV, databases, web data, and other formats efficiently.

RowTidy Team
Dec 2, 2025
10 min read
Excel, Data Import, CSV, Database, Data Integration

How to Import Data into Excel: Complete Guide

Importing data into Excel is a common task, but doing it correctly saves time and prevents errors.
Whether you're importing from CSV files, databases, web sources, or other formats, this guide shows you the best methods.

🚨 Common Import Sources

Popular Data Sources:

  • CSV files
  • Text files
  • Databases (SQL, Access)
  • Web pages
  • Other Excel files
  • JSON/XML files
  • APIs

Each source requires different techniques.

🛠 Method 1: Import CSV Files

Basic CSV Import

Steps:

  1. Data > Get Data > From File > From Text/CSV
  2. Select CSV file
  3. Preview appears
  4. Adjust settings:
    • Delimiter (comma, semicolon, tab)
    • Data types
    • Encoding
  5. Click Load or Transform Data

Common Issues:

  • Wrong delimiter detected
  • Encoding problems (special characters)
  • Date format issues
  • Numbers as text

Fix After Import:

  • Use RowTidy to clean imported data
  • Fix data types
  • Standardize formats

🛠 Method 2: Import from Database

Connect to Database

SQL Server:

  1. Data > Get Data > From Database > From SQL Server Database
  2. Enter server name
  3. Enter database name
  4. Choose authentication
  5. Select table or write query
  6. Load data

Access Database:

  1. Data > Get Data > From Database > From Microsoft Access Database
  2. Select .accdb file
  3. Choose table
  4. Load data

Benefits:

  • Live connection possible
  • Refresh data easily
  • Handle large datasets
  • Use SQL queries

🛠 Method 3: Import from Web

Scrape Web Data

Steps:

  1. Data > Get Data > From Other Sources > From Web
  2. Enter URL
  3. Select table to import
  4. Preview data
  5. Load or transform

Use Cases:

  • Stock prices
  • Exchange rates
  • Public data tables
  • News data

Limitations:

  • Requires structured HTML tables
  • May break if website changes
  • Some sites block scraping

🛠 Method 4: Import Text Files

Fixed Width or Delimited

Steps:

  1. Data > Get Data > From File > From Text/CSV
  2. Select file
  3. Choose delimiter type
  4. Set column breaks (if fixed width)
  5. Preview and adjust
  6. Load data

Delimiters:

  • Comma
  • Tab
  • Semicolon
  • Space
  • Custom character

🛠 Method 5: Import JSON/XML

Structured Data Import

JSON:

  1. Data > Get Data > From File > From JSON
  2. Select JSON file
  3. Expand nested structures
  4. Transform as needed
  5. Load to Excel

XML:

  1. Data > Get Data > From File > From XML
  2. Select XML file
  3. Parse structure
  4. Transform
  5. Load

Benefits:

  • Handles nested data
  • Preserves structure
  • Can transform during import

✅ Best Practices

Before Importing:

  • Clean source data if possible
  • Understand data structure
  • Plan transformations needed

After Importing:

  • Validate data types
  • Check for errors
  • Clean with RowTidy if needed
  • Document import process

🔗 Related Guides

  1. Convert CSV to Excel - CSV conversion
  2. Excel Data Cleaning Guide - Clean imported data
  3. Power Query Guide - Advanced imports
  4. Complete Excel Guide - Comprehensive guide

📌 Conclusion

Importing data correctly is the first step to good analysis. Use Power Query for most imports, clean data with RowTidy, and validate results.

✍️ Ready to import and clean data?

👉 Try RowTidy today to clean imported data automatically. Get started with a free trial.

This guide is part of our comprehensive series on Excel data management. Check out our other tutorials for complete data solutions.