Access Live Databricks Data in Excel for the Web (Excel 365/Online)



Connect to Databricks data from Excel 365 Online (Excel for the web) with Connect Spreadsheets.

Looking for Connect Cloud instructions?

Your Connect Cloud account includes Connect Spreadsheets, so you can use the instructions below. You can expect minor differences when referencing the Connect Spreadsheet platform, but the principles still apply!


Microsoft Excel for the web represents a cloud-native iteration of Microsoft Excel. When combined with Connect Spreadsheets by CData, you gain immediate access to Databricks data directly within Excel, facilitating data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more. This article shows how to connect to Databricks in Connect Spreadsheets and access and update live Databricks data in Excel spreadsheets online.

Connect Spreadsheets is the easiest way to get all your live data into Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets - no more downloading, wrangling, and uploading files again. Just connect to your data, select the dataset you'd like to see, and import it into your spreadsheet.

About Databricks Data Integration

Accessing and integrating live data from Databricks has never been easier with CData. Customers rely on CData connectivity to:

  • Access all versions of Databricks from Runtime Versions 9.1 - 13.X to both the Pro and Classic Databricks SQL versions.
  • Leave Databricks in their preferred environment thanks to compatibility with any hosting solution.
  • Secure authenticate in a variety of ways, including personal access token, Azure Service Principal, and Azure AD.
  • Upload data to Databricks using Databricks File System, Azure Blog Storage, and AWS S3 Storage.

While many customers are using CData's solutions to migrate data from different systems into their Databricks data lakehouse, several customers use our live connectivity solutions to federate connectivity between their databases and Databricks. These customers are using SQL Server Linked Servers or Polybase to get live access to Databricks from within their existing RDBMs.

Read more about common Databricks use-cases and how CData's solutions help solve data problems in our blog: What is Databricks Used For? 6 Use Cases.


Getting Started


This setup requires a Connect Spreadsheets instance and the Connect Spreadsheets Add-In for Excel. To get started, sign up a free trial of Connect Spreadsheets and install the free Connect Spreadsheets Excel Add-In.


Configure Databricks Connectivity for Excel

Connectivity to Databricks from Excel is made possible through Connect Spreadsheets . To work with Databricks data from Excel, we start by creating and configuring a Databricks connection.

  1. Log into Connect Spreadsheets, click Connections and click Add Connection
  2. Select "Databricks" from the Add Connection panel
  3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Databricks.

    To connect to a Databricks cluster, set the properties as described below.

    Note: The needed values can be found in your Databricks instance by navigating to Clusters, and selecting the desired cluster, and selecting the JDBC/ODBC tab under Advanced Options.

    • Server: Set to the Server Hostname of your Databricks cluster.
    • HTTPPath: Set to the HTTP Path of your Databricks cluster.
    • Token: Set to your personal access token (this value can be obtained by navigating to the User Settings page of your Databricks instance and selecting the Access Tokens tab).
  4. Click Create & Test

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Databricks data from Excel for the web.

Access Live Databricks Data in Excel for the web

The steps below outline connecting to Connect Spreadsheets from Excel to access live Databricks data.

  1. Log into Excel, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
  2. Click Insert and click Office Add-ins. (If you have already installed the Add-In, jump to step 4.)
  3. Search for Connect Spreadsheets and click "Get it now" to install the Add-in.
  4. Back in Excel, open the Data ribbon select and click the Connect Spreadsheets "Get Data" button.
  5. In the Add-In panel, click "Log in" to sign into and authenticate with your Connect Spreadsheets account
  6. In the Connect Spreadsheets panel in Excel, click Import
  7. Choose a Connection (e.g. Databricks1), Table (e.g. Customers), and Columns to import
  8. Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit
  9. Click Execute to import the data

Update Databricks Data from Excel

In addition to viewing Databricks data in Excel, Connect Spreadsheets also lets you update and delete Databricks data. Begin by importing data (as described above).

  1. Update any cell or cells with changes you want to push to Databricks
  2. In the Connect Spreadsheets Add-In panel, select Update
  3. Optionally highlight the cell(s) you wish to update and select an update option ("Update All" or "Update Selected")
  4. Click Execute to push the updates to Databricks

A notification will appear when the update is complete

Live Access to Databricks Data from Spreadsheets

New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Databricks data from your Excel workbook. You can add more data to your workbook for calculations, aggregations, collaboration, and more.

Try Connect Spreadsheets and get real-time data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your spreadsheet apps.

Ready to get started?

Learn more about Connect Spreadsheets or sign up for free trial access:

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