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Set up the Azure Databricks Excel Add-in

Important

This feature is in Public Preview.

The Azure Databricks Excel Add-in connects your Azure Databricks workspace to Microsoft Excel, bringing governed Lakehouse data directly into your spreadsheets to help you move from data to decisions faster. The add-in is fully supported across Excel for the web and desktop versions for both Windows and macOS.

This page describes the two methods available to set up the Azure Databricks Excel Add-in in Microsoft Excel. This add-in uses single sign-on (SSO) authentication to connect to your Azure Databricks workspace and supports Unity Catalog for data governance and access control.

Prerequisites

Before you install the Excel Add-in, verify that you have the following:

  • Access to a Azure Databricks workspace with Unity Catalog enabled.
  • Access to a running SQL warehouse.
  • Permissions to read data from Unity Catalog tables in your workspace.
  • If you use a firewall or a cloud security platform, allowlist the Azure Databricks workspace URLs included in the add-in file.

Set up the add-in file

The add-in file is a small connector file that tells Excel exactly how to securely connect to Azure Databricks. It acts as the digital handshake that ensures the add-in loads correctly and stays up to date every time you open Excel.

  1. Click the following link to instantly download the file:

    Link to automatically download the add-in file

  2. Edit the add-in file by specifying your workspace URL as an <AppDomain> within the AppDomains section. Your workspace URL is the base URL you use to access your Azure Databricks workspace in a browser. To switch between multiple Azure Databricks workspaces, add each workspace URL to the add-in file.

    <AppDomains>

   <AppDomain>https://www.databricks.com</AppDomain>
   <AppDomain>https://login.databricks.com</AppDomain>


   // highlight-next-line
   <AppDomain>https://adb-<workspace1-id>.<random-number>.azuredatabricks.net</AppDomain>
   // highlight-next-line
   <AppDomain>https://adb-<workspace2-id>.<random-number>.azuredatabricks.net</AppDomain>
</AppDomains>

    Note

    Paste your workspace URL as plain text (without formatting) by pressing Ctrl+Shift+V or Command+Shift+V.

  3. Save the file. Verify that it's properly formatted as an .xml file.

Option 1: Admin managed

As a global admin, you can download and configure the Azure Databricks Excel Add-in and deploy it to other users in your organization.

To install the Azure Databricks Excel Add-in as a Microsoft 365 Admin, you must have the global admin permission. As an admin, you can determine which users in your organization can use add-ins. For more about global admins on Microsoft 365, see the Microsoft documentation.

  1. In the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Settings > Integrated apps and click the Add-ins link.
  2. Click Deploy Add-in and click Next.
  3. Select Upload custom apps as the option to deploy a new add-in.
  4. Select the option to upload a manifest. Click Choose File and upload the add-in file.
  5. Choose which users should have access to the add-in.
  6. Click Deploy.

For detailed steps about uploading the Azure Databricks Excel Add-in, see the Microsoft documentation.

Option 2: Self-service

Installation steps vary depending on your Excel platform. Download and set up the add-in file provided in the Prerequisites.

Excel for the web

To install and connect to the Excel Add-in in Excel for the web do the following:

  1. Open Excel for the web and create or open a workbook.
  2. Under the Home tab, click Add-ins > Advanced.
  3. Click Upload My Add-in.
  4. Upload the add-in file.
  5. Click Upload.
  6. Find and click the Azure Databricks Add-in from the Add-ins menu.
  7. Sign in to your Azure Databricks account. If there is an error, make sure to enable pop-up dialogs.
  8. If you configured multiple workspace URLs, select the desired Azure Databricks account name. You only need to select a specific workspace if the URLs are within the same account. For more information on account names, see Locate your account ID.

Excel Desktop (Windows)

To install the Excel Add-in in Excel Desktop for Windows, do the following:

  1. Create a folder named Manifest on your local drive (for example, C:\Manifest).
  2. Copy the add-in file to the C:\Manifest folder.
  3. Open the folder properties and share the folder:
    1. Right-click the Manifest folder and select Properties.
    2. Click Sharing > Share and add yourself as a user with read and write permissions.
  4. Open Excel Desktop.
  5. Configure Excel to trust the manifest folder:
    1. Click File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings.
    2. In the sidebar, click Trusted Add-in Catalogs.
    3. In Catalog Url, enter the path to the shared folder where the add-in file is located (for example, C:\\YourComputerName\Manifest).
    4. Click Add catalog.
    5. Select the Show in Menu checkbox.
    6. Click OK to save your changes.
  6. Restart Excel Desktop.
  7. Click Add-ins > More Add-ins > Shared Folder.
  8. Select the Azure Databricks connector and click Add.
  9. Click the Azure Databricks Add-in and complete the sign-in process to your Azure Databricks account.
  10. If you configured multiple workspace URLs, select the desired Azure Databricks account name. You only need to select a specific workspace if the URLs are within the same account. For more information on account names, see Locate your account ID.

Excel Desktop (macOS)

To install the Excel Add-in in Excel Desktop for macOS do the following:

  1. Find your Microsoft Office Add-ins folder. By default, the directory is:

    /Users/<your-username>/Library/Containers/com.microsoft.Excel/Data/Documents/wef

  2. Copy the add-in file to this folder.

  3. Open or restart Excel Desktop.

  4. In the navigation bar, click Add-ins > My Add-ins.

  5. Click the Azure Databricks Add-in.

  6. Complete the sign-in process to your Azure Databricks account.

  7. If you configured multiple workspace URLs, select the desired Azure Databricks account name. You only need to select a specific workspace if the URLs are within the same account. For more information on account names, see Locate your account ID.

Change Azure Databricks workspace

If your add-in file specifies multiple Azure Databricks workspaces, you can switch between those workspaces. For more information, see Set up the add-in file.

To connect to a different Azure Databricks workspace, do the following:

  1. In the upper-right of the Azure Databricks Add-in pane, click the three-dot menu next to the compute selector.
  2. Click Change workspace.
  3. Select the account your workspace is in, the workspace if prompted, and sign in.

Next steps

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