cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Announcements
Want to learn some quick and useful tips to make your day easier? Check out how Calvin uses Replay to get feedback from other teams at Dropbox here.

Create, upload, and share

Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice from the Dropbox Community.

cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Importing Data in Excel from Dropbox

Importing Data in Excel from Dropbox

rehanabbasi
Explorer | Level 3

 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.

12 Replies 12

Jay
Dropbox Staff
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?
 
 
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.

Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

rehanabbasi
Explorer | Level 3

@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 Staff

If that’s the case, then it won’t be possible to import the Excel file into the other Excel file.


Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

rehanabbasi
Explorer | Level 3

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 Staff
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.

Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

rehanabbasi
Explorer | Level 3

@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 Staff
As mentioned previously, did you check if Excel refreshes the shared link, and if so, how frequently?
 

Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

rehanabbasi
Explorer | Level 3

@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 Staff
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.

Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

Need more support?
Who's talking

Top contributors to this post

  • User avatar
    rehanabbasi Explorer | Level 3
  • User avatar
    thaimike New member | Level 2
  • User avatar
    Jay Dropbox Staff
What do Dropbox user levels mean?