Access Live Dynamics CRM 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 Dynamics CRM data directly within Excel, facilitating data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more. This article shows how to connect to Dynamics CRM in Connect Spreadsheets and access and update live Dynamics CRM 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.

Configure Dynamics CRM Connectivity for Excel

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

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

   The connection string options meet the authentication and connection requirements of different Dynamics CRM instances. To connect to your instance, set the User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, to valid Dynamics CRM user credentials and set the Url to a valid Dynamics CRM server organization root. Additionally, set the CRMVersion property to 'CRM2011+' or 'CRMOnline'. IFD configurations are supported as well; set InternetFacingDeployment to true.

   Additionally, you can provide the security token service (STS) or AD FS endpoint in the STSURL property. This value can be retrieved with the GetSTSUrl stored procedure. Office 365 users can connect to the default STS URL by simply setting CRMVersion.

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

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Dynamics CRM data from Excel.

Access Live Dynamics CRM Data in Excel

The steps below outline connecting to Connect Spreadsheets from Excel to access live Dynamics CRM 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. DynamicsCRM1), Table (e.g. Account), 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 Dynamics CRM Data from Excel

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

1. Update any cell or cells with changes you want to push to Dynamics CRM (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 Dynamics CRM

A notification will appear when the update is complete

Live Access to Dynamics CRM Data from Spreadsheet Apps

New, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Dynamics CRM 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.