How to use write.xlsx in R (With Examples)

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You can use the write.xlsx function in R to write a data frame to an Excel workbook.

This function uses the following basic syntax:

write.xlsx(x, file, sheetName = "Sheet1", ...)

where:

• x: Name of data frame
• file: path to output file
• sheetName: Sheet name to appear in workbook. Default is “Sheet1”

The following step-by-step example shows how to use the write.xlsx function in practice.

Step 1: Install & Load xlsx Package

First, we must install and load the xlsx package in order to use the write.xlsx function:

install.packages('xlsx')     
library(xlsx)        

Step 2: Create the Data Frame

Next, let’s create the following data frame in R:

#create data frame
df <- data.frame(team=c('A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E'),
                 points=c(99, 90, 86, 88, 95),
                 assists=c(33, 28, 31, 39, 34),
                 rebounds=c(30, 28, 24, 24, 28))	

#view data frame
df

  team points assists rebounds
1    A     99      33       30
2    B     90      28       28
3    C     86      31       24
4    D     88      39       24
5    E     95      34       28

Step 3: Use write.xlsx to Export Data Frame to Excel File

Next, let’s use write.xlsx() to write the data frame to a file called my_data.xlsx:

#write data frame to Excel file
write.xlsx(df, 'my_data.xlsx')

The file will automatically be written into the current .

If I navigate to the current working directory, I can find this Excel file:

The values in the Excel workbook match those from the data frame.

Step 4 (Optional): Use write.xlsx with Custom Arguments

Note that you can also use the following syntax to change the sheet name in the Excel workbook and suppress the row names:

#write data frame to Excel file
write.xlsx(df, 'my_data.xlsx', sheetName = 'basketball_data', row.names=FALSE)

If I navigate to the current working directory, I can find this Excel file:

Notice that the sheet name has changed and the first column no longer contains the row numbers.

The following tutorials explain how to export other types of files in R: