Access Live Microsoft Dataverse Data in Excel (Desktop)

Microsoft Excel is a widely used spreadsheet software application, primarily used for tasks related to data management, analysis, and visualization. When combined with Connect Spreadsheets by CData, you gain immediate access to Microsoft Dataverse data directly within Excel, facilitating data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more. This article shows how to connect to Microsoft Dataverse in Connect Spreadsheets and access and update live Microsoft Dataverse data in Excel spreadsheets.

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.

Getting Started

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Configure Microsoft Dataverse Connectivity for Excel

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

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

   You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. Below are the minimum connection properties required to connect.

   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
   • OrganizationUrl: Set this to the organization URL you are connecting to, such as https://myorganization.crm.dynamics.com.
   • Tenant (optional): Set this if you wish to authenticate to a different tenant than your default. This is required to work with an organization not on your default Tenant.

   When you connect the Common Data Service OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions. The OAuth process completes automatically.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Microsoft Dataverse Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Microsoft Dataverse data from Excel.

Access Live Microsoft Dataverse Data in Excel

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

1. Open Excel, create a new sheet (or open an existing one).
2. Click Insert and click Get Add-ins. (if you have already installed the Add-In, jump to step 4).
3. Search for Connect Spreadsheets and install the Add-in.
4. Click Data and open the CData Connect Spreadsheets Add-In.
5. In the Add-In panel, click "Log in" to authenticate with your Connect Spreadsheets account
6. In the Connect Spreadsheets panel in Excel, click Import
7. Choose a Connection (e.g. CDS1), Table (e.g. Accounts), and Columns to import
8. Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit
9. Click Execute to import the data and opt to overwrite the existing sheet or create a new one.

Update Microsoft Dataverse Data from Excel

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

1. Update any cell or cells with changes you want to push to Microsoft Dataverse (your changes will be in red)
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 Microsoft Dataverse

A notification will appear when the update is complete

Live Access to Microsoft Dataverse Data from Spreadsheet Apps

New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Microsoft Dataverse 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 Microsoft Excel.