Using SharePoint List as Excel data source

Question

It is nearly 2027 and Microsoft still hasn't figured out a way to create an Excel file using a SharePoint list as a data source. Do I need a third party solution for this?

Answer 1

Hi David,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Based on my understanding, you do not necessarily need to use a third-party solution. SharePoint/Microsoft Lists already supports exporting a list to Excel while maintaining a one-way data connection.

You can refer to the following steps:

1. In the SharePoint list, select Export > Export to Excel. Please note that the Export option only appears when no items in the list are selected.
2. Open the downloaded query.iqy file. If Excel displays a security warning and you trust the SharePoint site, select Enable.
3. In the Import Data window, select how you want the data to be displayed and where you want it to be placed, then select OK.
4. The SharePoint list will be imported as an Excel table.

Note:

• To retrieve the latest data from SharePoint, in Excel, select Data > Refresh All.
• Changes you make directly to the Excel table will not be synchronized back to SharePoint.
• If the SharePoint list contains folders, the folder structure will not be displayed in Excel. However, the Item Type and Path columns will be added so that you can filter or sort the data by type and location.

You can refer to the following documentation:

 Export to Excel from SharePoint or Lists | Microsoft Support

I hope this information is helpful.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please feel free to share them in the comments on this post so I can continue to support you.

I look forward to continuing the conversation.

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Yes" and kindly upvote it.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.