5 Excel Alternatives to Google Sheets' IMPORTDATA Function

When dealing with real-time data in spreadsheets, Google Sheets has long been favored for its dynamic functions like IMPORTDATA that pull live data directly into your sheet. However, there are several robust Excel alternatives that can perform similar or even more sophisticated data import and handling capabilities. Here, we delve into five Excel alternatives to Google Sheets' IMPORTDATA function to enhance your data manipulation and analysis toolkit.

1. Power Query

Power Query is an intuitive data transformation and preparation tool available in Excel (since Excel 2010) that allows users to import data from various sources, clean it, and reshape it for analysis. Here’s how it stacks up against IMPORTDATA:

• Rich Data Sources: Beyond web URL sources, Power Query supports databases, Excel files, CSV, JSON, XML, and more.
• Data Transformation: With Power Query, you can reshape your data through merging, pivoting, unpivoting, and splitting columns, offering much more control over data preprocessing than IMPORTDATA.
• Refreshable Data: Like IMPORTDATA, Power Query can refresh data periodically or manually, ensuring your dataset remains current.

🔍 Note: Use the ‘From Web’ option in Power Query to import data from web URLs similar to IMPORTDATA.

2. Excel’s Web Query

If you need to import data from a web page without the advanced transformation features of Power Query, Excel’s Web Query functionality can be a straightforward alternative:

• Direct Data Import: This tool lets you select specific tables from a web page to pull into your spreadsheet.
• Requires Basic HTML Knowledge: You might need to manually adjust web addresses or select table IDs.
• Simplicity: Unlike Power Query, Web Query focuses solely on importing data rather than transforming it.

💡 Note: Web Query can be accessed through the Data tab under ‘From Web’.

3. VBA

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) offers a highly customizable scripting solution for importing data. Here’s how you can leverage VBA:

• Custom Automation: You can write scripts to automate the import of data from any source, with specific conditions or transformations.
• Complex Workflows: VBA can handle complex data import scenarios that go beyond simple table pulls.
• Integration: Imported data can be manipulated and processed further within the same script or by calling other Excel functions.

Sub ImportWebData()
    Dim url As String
    url = “Your Web URL Here”
    With ActiveSheet.QueryTables.Add(Connection:=“URL;” & url, Destination:=Range(“A1”))
        .WebSelectionType = xlSpecifiedTables
        .WebTables = “1” ‘Select the table you want
        .Refresh
    End With
End Sub

4. Microsoft Power BI

While not an in-Excel tool, Power BI’s data connectivity and transformation capabilities can be considered an alternative for importing and managing data:

• External Processing: Data can be imported, transformed, and visualized in Power BI, then exported to Excel if needed.
• Advanced Data Analytics: Power BI provides advanced data analytics, AI insights, and rich reporting tools.
• Live Connections: Set up live connections to refresh data automatically from your data source.

5. External Add-Ins

Several third-party add-ins provide advanced data import functionalities:

• xlwings: Allows Python to be used for data manipulation within Excel, offering powerful import options.
• Exceljet’s Query Tool: Similar to IMPORTDATA, this tool can import web tables or execute SQL queries.
• Kutools for Excel: Offers tools to import data from diverse sources like web pages, CSV files, etc., with additional data handling features.

To wrap things up, while Google Sheets’ IMPORTDATA function has its benefits, Excel alternatives like Power Query, Web Query, VBA, Power BI, and external add-ins provide broader, more customizable, and often more sophisticated ways to manage and analyze your data. Each of these tools can be tailored to your specific data needs, from simple data pulls to complex data workflows, making Excel a highly versatile tool in your data analytics toolkit.

Related Terms:

• Google Sheets
• Microsoft Excel
• Airtable
• smartsheet
• Google Dokumen
• Google Drive