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Pandas is a popular open-source library in Python that is widely used for data analysis and manipulation. It provides various functions and methods for efficiently working with tabular data, including reading and writing files in different formats. To read Excel files using Pandas, one can use the “read_excel()” function, which takes in the file path as an input and returns a DataFrame object containing the data from the Excel file. This function also allows for specifying specific sheets, columns, and rows to be read, making it a versatile tool for handling large and complex Excel files. Overall, using Pandas to read Excel files offers a convenient and efficient way to extract and analyze data from these commonly used spreadsheet files.
The Ultimate Guide: Read Excel Files with Pandas
Excel files are one of the most common ways to store data. Fortunately the pandas function read_excel() allows you to easily read in Excel files.
This tutorial explains several ways to read Excel files into Python using pandas.
Example 1: Read Excel File into a pandas DataFrame
Suppose we have the following Excel file:
The following code shows how to use the read_excel() function to import this Excel file into a pandas DataFrame:
import pandas as pd #import Excel file df = pd.read_excel('data.xlsx') #view DataFrame df playerID team points 0 1 Lakers 26 1 2 Mavs 19 2 3 Bucks 24 3 4 Spurs 22
Example 2: Read Excel File with Index Column
Sometimes you may also have an Excel file in which one of the columns is an index column:
In this case you can use index_col to tell pandas which column to use as the index column when importing:
import pandas as pd #import Excel file, specifying the index column df = pd.read_excel('data.xlsx', index_col='index') #view DataFrame df playerID team points index 1 1 Lakers 26 2 2 Mavs 19 3 3 Bucks 24 4 4 Spurs 22
Example 3: Read Excel File Using Sheet Name
You can also read specific sheet names from an Excel file into a pandas DataFrame. For example, consider the following Excel file:
To read a specific sheet in as a pandas DataFrame, you can use the sheet_name() argument:
import pandas as pd #import only second sheet df = pd.read_excel('data.xlsx', sheet_name='second sheet') #view DataFrame df playerID team points 0 1 Lakers 26 1 2 Mavs 19 2 3 Bucks 24 3 4 Spurs 22
Common Error: Install xlrd
When you attempt to use the read_excel() function, you may encounter the following error:
ImportError: Install xlrd >= 1.0.0 for Excel support
In this case, you need to first install xlrd:
pip install xlrd
Once this is installed, you may proceed to use the read_excel() function.
Additional Resources
How to Read CSV Files with Pandas
How to Export a Pandas DataFrame to Excel