Working with Excel Files in Python
This site is a guide to the tools available for working with Excel and Python. There are two main approaches: processing Excel files from Python — reading, writing, and manipulating .xlsx files without needing Excel installed — and running Python inside Excel — building add-ins, user-defined functions, and automation that works within the Excel application itself.
Reading and Writing Excel Files
There are python packages available to work with Excel files that will run on any Python platform and that do not require either Windows or Excel to be used. They are fast, reliable and open source:
openpyxl
The recommended package for reading and writing Excel 2010 files (ie: .xlsx)
Download | Documentation | Source
xlsxwriter
An alternative package for writing data, formatting information and, in particular, charts in the Excel 2010 format (ie: .xlsx)
Download | Documentation | GitHub
pyexcel
Library with a unified api for reading and writing files with older Excel format (xls), Excel 2010 format (xlsx), OpenDocument Spreadsheet format (ods), and many others.
Download | Documentation | GitHub
pyxlsb
This package allows you to read Excel files in the xlsb format.
pylightxl
This package allows you to read xlsx and xlsm files and write xlsx files.
Download | Documentation | GitHub
xlrd
This package is for reading data and formatting information from older Excel files (ie: .xls)
Download | Documentation | GitHub
xlwt
This package is for writing data and formatting information to older Excel files (ie: .xls)
NB: xlwt is no longer maintained and the .xls format is largely obsolete. For writing Excel files, use openpyxl or xlsxwriter instead.
Download | Documentation | Examples | GitHub
xlutils
This package collects utilities that require both xlrd and xlwt, including the ability to copy and modify or filter existing excel files.
NB: In general, these use cases are now covered by openpyxl!
Download | Documentation | GitHub
Writing Excel Add-Ins
The following products can be used to write Excel add-ins in Python. Unlike the reader and writer packages, they require an installation of Microsoft Excel.
PyXLL
PyXLL is a commercial Excel add-in that embeds a full Python interpreter directly inside Excel, enabling you to build high-performance add-ins entirely in Python with no VBA.
Python functions are exposed as worksheet functions (UDFs), macros, menus, and ribbon toolbars. PyXLL gives you complete access to the Excel object model and the full Python ecosystem — including NumPy, pandas, matplotlib, and any other package you can install locally. It supports real-time data (RTD) functions for live data feeds, custom task panes, and server-side Excel automation. Because it runs in-process with Excel, it is significantly faster than out-of-process approaches for data-intensive workloads.
Homepage | Features | Documentation | Download
xlwings
xlwings is an open-source library to automate Excel with Python instead of VBA and works on Windows and macOS: you can call Python from Excel and vice versa and write UDFs in Python (Windows only). xlwings PRO is a commercial add-on with additional functionality.
Homepage | Documentation | GitHub | Download
What is the difference between PyXLL and xlwings?
Python in Excel
Microsoft Python in Excel
Microsoft introduced Python in Excel as a built-in feature for Microsoft 365 subscribers, allowing Python code to be written directly in Excel cells with results returned as values or images.
Python in Excel runs using an Anaconda distribution hosted in Microsoft's cloud, so the code has no access to local files, databases, or network resources — all data must be loaded into the workbook. Code is embedded in cells rather than .py files, making it hard to version-control or reuse across workbooks. Note also that Python cells recalculate in strict top-to-bottom order rather than following Excel's normal dependency graph.
For use cases that require local data access, reusable code, or deeper Excel integration, PyXLL is worth considering.
The Mailing List / Discussion Group
There is a Google Group dedicated to working with Excel files in Python, including the libraries listed above along with manipulating the Excel application via COM.
Commercial Development
The following companies can provide commercial software development and consultancy and are specialists in working with Excel files in Python:
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| Clark Consulting & Research |
For a more detailed comparison of some of the tools mentioned above, see the blog post Tools for Working with Excel and Python on the PyXLL blog.