Reading/parsing Excel (xls) files with Python

python xls
qrbaQ picture qrbaQ · May 31, 2010 · Viewed 232.9k times · Source

What is the best way to read Excel (XLS) files with Python (not CSV files).

Is there a built-in package which is supported by default in Python to do this task?

Answer

taleinat picture taleinat · May 31, 2010

I highly recommend xlrd for reading .xls files.

voyager mentioned the use of COM automation. Having done this myself a few years ago, be warned that doing this is a real PITA. The number of caveats is huge and the documentation is lacking and annoying. I ran into many weird bugs and gotchas, some of which took many hours to figure out.

UPDATE: For newer .xlsx files, the recommended library for reading and writing appears to be openpyxl (thanks, Ikar Pohorský).

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