Explanation
The Get & Transform Data section allows Excel to connect to external data sources and bring data into a workbook for analysis.
Instead of manually copying data, Excel can connect to a source and later refresh the imported data.
Main Tools
- Get Data
Data → Get Data
Get Data provides access to multiple external data sources.
Common sources include:
- Text/CSV
- Excel Workbook
- Web
- Database
- Online services
- Other sources
Example
Suppose a company receives this sales data as a CSV file:
|
Order ID |
Date |
Product |
City |
Sales |
|
O101 |
01-Sep-2026 |
Keyboard |
Sirsa |
4000 |
|
O102 |
02-Sep-2026 |
Mouse |
Hisar |
5000 |
|
O103 |
03-Sep-2026 |
Monitor |
Sirsa |
25500 |
Instead of copying the records manually, use:
Data → Get Data → From File → From Text/CSV
- Recent Sources
Recent Sources displays data sources that were recently used.
This makes reconnecting to frequently used sources easier.
- Existing Connections
Existing Connections displays connections already available to the workbook.
These connections can be reused instead of creating them again.
- Refresh All
Data → Refresh All
Refresh All updates connected data when the original source changes.
Example
Original CSV:
September Sales = ₹1,50,000
Later the source becomes:
September Sales = ₹1,75,000
After refreshing the connection, Excel can retrieve the updated source data.
- Connection Properties
Connection Properties control settings related to a data connection, including refresh behavior.
Practice
Import a small CSV sales dataset and identify:
- Get Data
- Recent Sources
- Existing Connections
- Refresh All