Supercharge Spreadsheets: Integrate Python to automate MS Excel

Rehana Atar
3 min readAug 9, 2021

Python is an advanced computer language, and several computer applications are based on the same. Besides, it has some very good features that make it a user-friendly application. However, there are many tech-savvy who are unaware of an integration feature. Python is easy to integrate after installing it from pip or Preferred Installer Program. To know how to install python packages using pip, one has to refer to online blogs and power up their technical skills.

Moreover, MS Excel is the best spreadsheet tool to manage users’ data in tabular format. Hence, automating the same will save a lot of users’ time and help inefficient control and manage the data. So, let’s understand more about the automation process done by the Python language to automate MS Excel.

Tips for integrating Python and MS Excel

Use xlwings

Automating the spreadsheet is not always an easy task. It requires technical expertise in backend processing. Hence, keeping the same user interface (UI) is the biggest task for IT professionals or any user who wants to integrate Python language into MS Excel. Therefore, xlwings is the biggest user-friendly Python package that seamlessly integrates with MS Excel.

The xlwings is a user-friendly and open-source package that automates spreadsheets with Python scripting. It is accessible on Microsoft Windows and macOS operating systems. To operate the automation process using this package, there are plenty of tutorials available. We recommend readers read on the same and supercharge the spreadsheet.

Use online applications

Usually, tech-savvy users try different means to accomplish the task. Hence, in the era of data and information technology, online space comes up with several user-friendly applications that automate their spreadsheets.

Digital applications like Jupyter Notebook and others make spreadsheets interactive with features of shareable containing live codes, high-quality visuals, and texts. These applications give users a flexible option that helps enterprises to manage their databases.

Excel equals to Input

Usually, users are satisfied using MS Excel, and they happily continue using spreadsheets. It is because the data present in MS Excel is required for the analysis and data tracking. Hence, one can easily understand the importance and significance of this application. In normal calculation and data operation, MS Excel takes loads of time to run pivotal operations.

It seems like Excel may crash very soon. However, Python is there to rescue this application using popular panda libraries. Users have the freedom to import the data from spreadsheets into SQL databases and different panda libraries (for instance, DataFrames). For users, both options allow easy data analysis along with its exploration.

Consider other libraries too

Finally, libraries are the final option that helps in the MS Excel and Python integration. These libraries are sufficient to cater to several cases. But, looking specifically for Excel only, there are certain functions Formatting, Filter data, and others that require sophisticated libraries. Below we discussed more in detail regarding these libraries. So without further delay, let’s roll the intro:

Openpyxl

Openpyxl is a library that is compatible with Excel 2010 documents. Here, users can edit, create and carry out several operations and how to lock formulas in excel within a few clicks.

xlrd

It is a library for formatting and reading data information in MS Excel files.

xlsxwriter

xlsxwriter is the complete package that helps users to carry out different MS Excel functions. It includes Formatting, Creating charts, merging cells, commenting, and Integration with panda libraries. So, why should anyone wait for more. Start the Python scripting and automate the fantastic tool MS Excel. All in all, Python is an efficient tool to solve major functional errors in the application.

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