How do I link an Excel spreadsheet into Access?

Question

I need to incorporate data from an Excel spreadsheet into Access so it can be included in a report. How do I link an Excel spreadsheet into Access?

Answer 1

If you have data in Excel, you can bring that data into an Access table. For example, the following is a small database in Excel.

You can link the Excel table into Access by clicking on the Excel icon in the Import & Link section of the External Data tab.

When the Get External Data – Excel Spreadsheet dialog opens, you have the following 3 options:

1. Import the source data.
2. Append a copy of the records to a table.
3. Link to the data source by creating a linked table.

If you choose the third option, the Excel data will be imported as a live link into Access. Any changes made to the Excel file will be reflected in the Access file, but you won’t be able to change the Excel data from Access.

When you click on OK, the Link Spreadsheet Wizard will appear. If your Excel file has multiple sheets or ranges, you will have the opportunity here to identify them.

When you click on Next> you can specify the fact that your table has column headings.

The next step in the Link Spreadsheet Wizard will allow you to give your new table a name.

Now your new table is imported. If any changes are made to the Excel file, they won’t be immediately visible until you close that table in Access and open it again.

You can use this table to create reports, forms, and queries.

Answer 2

worst case scenario, you can save the excel spreadsheet as CSV file.

Then import the CSV into access.