I have an excel file on Dropbox. I want to import the data from this file to another excel file (which I want to share to others) via Get External Data - From Web feature. But whenever insert the link in the excel file for the Dropbox file, it opens a page but does not let me import the table from there. Please help.

As of 2024 this seems to work fine once you have used web query and got the data in you can rigt click refresh and it will pull the updated info from the dropbox CSV

Importing Data in Excel from Dropbox

13 Replies

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Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago
Hi there, most likely this won’t work as expected, since the Excel files are online, how would this translate to a file when it’s synced to your local machine?

However, if you’re willing to attempt this, you’ll need to create a shared link to the excel file, and then force the file to render in the browser using the raw=1 steps here.

Then you can use that shared link as the import URL in the other Excel document.

However, I can’t guarantee if this will work as expected, if at all.
rehanabbasi
Explorer | Level 3
7 years ago
@Jay
I already tried raw=1 procedure but it tries to directly download the file instead of opening it and letting me select the table.
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago
If that’s the case, then it won’t be possible to import the Excel file into the other Excel file.
rehanabbasi
Explorer | Level 3
7 years ago
After some it and trial, I was able to import the data but it is not updating in the new file when I make changes in the Dropbox file.
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago
Are you saving changes to the Dropbox file directly? Is your link to that file ‘live’ (meaning a shared link, and not simply a downloaded file)?

Likewise, how frequently does the second Excel sheet update itself to verify the info imported from the first sheet? Is it automatic, every minute or so, or do you need to have it check manually? This is more of an Excel setting though, instead of Dropbox.
rehanabbasi
Explorer | Level 3
7 years ago
@Jay
Yes, I'm updating the file in Dropbox directly and am using a shared link. Moreover, I've set the new excel file to import the data automatically. I've also tried importing the data manually but to no avail. :slight_frown:
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago
As mentioned previously, did you check if Excel refreshes the shared link, and if so, how frequently?

Perhaps this info from the Microsoft site will help in this regard?
rehanabbasi
Explorer | Level 3
7 years ago
Jay
I've set excel to refresh only when the file is being opened. It refreshes but I still get the old data.
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago
Is the shared link on its own showing the most up-to-date changes, when viewing it directly from the site while not logged into your account?

If so, then there might be an issue with how Excel is importing the link. Perhaps it’s loading a cached version of the file instead of grabbing the live version.
rehanabbasi
Explorer | Level 3
7 years ago
@Jay
The shared link is showing the updated file. I think the provlem is that dropbox loads the files via javascript and excel points to the previous file in history.

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Importing Data in Excel from Dropbox

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