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



Connect to SharePoint 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 SharePoint data directly within Excel, facilitating data analysis, collaboration, calculations, and more. This article shows how to connect to SharePoint in Connect Spreadsheets and access and update live SharePoint 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 SharePoint Data Integration

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

  • Access data from a wide range of SharePoint versions, including Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and above, and SharePoint Online.
  • Access all of SharePoint thanks to support for Hidden and Lookup columns.
  • Recursively scan folders to create a relational model of all SharePoint data.
  • Use SQL stored procedures to upload and download documents and attachments.

Most customers rely on CData solutions to integrate SharePoint data into their database or data warehouse, while others integrate their SharePoint data with preferred data tools, like Power BI, Tableau, or Excel.

For more information on how customers are solving problems with CData's SharePoint solutions, refer to our blog: Drivers in Focus: Collaboration Tools.


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 SharePoint Connectivity for Excel

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

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

    Set the URL property to the base SharePoint site or to a sub-site. This allows you to query any lists and other SharePoint entities defined for the site or sub-site.

    The User and Password properties, under the Authentication section, must be set to valid SharePoint user credentials when using SharePoint On-Premise.

    If you are connecting to SharePoint Online, set the SharePointEdition to SHAREPOINTONLINE along with the User and Password connection string properties. For more details on connecting to SharePoint Online, see the "Getting Started" chapter of the help documentation

  4. Click Create & Test

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

Access Live SharePoint Data in Excel for the web

The steps below outline connecting to Connect Spreadsheets from Excel to access live SharePoint 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. SharePoint1), Table (e.g. MyCustomList), and Columns to import
  8. Optionally add Filters, Sorting, and a Limit
  9. Click Execute to import the data

Update SharePoint Data from Excel

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

  1. Update any cell or cells with changes you want to push to SharePoint
  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 SharePoint

A notification will appear when the update is complete

Live Access to SharePoint Data from Spreadsheets

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

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

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