Import Excel Table or Range to SharePoint List

A SharePoint Online tutorial by Peter Kalmström

In an earlier demo Peter Kalmström, CEO and Systems Designer of kalmstrom.com Business Solutions, showed how to export an Excel table to a SharePoint list.

You can also do it the other way around and import the Excel table to SharePoint with the Import Spreadsheet app. If you use that method, which is described in the demo below, you can also import a range of cells without formatting them as a table. The data will be imported to a new list with the new experience interface.

NOTE: This method only works in Internet Explorer. We have still chosen to include this option here, because it allows you to import a range of cells without formatting them as a table. The data will be imported to a new list.

When you have imported the Excel data to SharePoint with the Import Spreadsheet app, it can only be updated in SharePoint. Changes in SharePoint can be pulled down to Excel by using the Excel Refresh button, but not vice versa. You should also be aware that you cannot change the order of columns or exclude columns from the import. The range or table will be imported just as it is.

For more control and synchronization both ways, use the Access method to import Excel data to SharePoint.

Excel icon

These are the steps to import Excel data to a SharePoint
list with the Import Spreadsheet app:

Click on the settings gear and select 'Add an app'.
Search for Excel and select the Import Spreadsheet app.
Give the app a name and browse to the Excel file you want to import.
Enter the URL of the SharePoint site to where you want to import the Excel table.
Click on Import, and you will be asked to log in to SharePoint again.
Select the table or range that you want to import and click on Import.

Now the Excel data you selected will be imported to the SharePoint app.