We couldn't find any data in your Excel workbook

APPLIES TO EXCEL 2007 AND LATER ONLY.

When you import an Excel workbook into Power BI, you may see the following error:

Error: We couldn't find any data formatted as a table. To import from Excel into the Power BI service, you need to format the data as a table. Select all the data you want in the table and press Ctrl+T.

Quick solution

1. Edit your workbook in Excel.
2. Select the range of cells that contain your data. The first row should contain your column headers (the column names).
3. Press Ctrl + T to create a table.
4. Save your workbook.
5. Return to Power BI and import your workbook again, or if you're working in Excel 2016 and you've saved your workbook to OneDrive for Business, in Excel, click File > Publish.

Details

Cause

In Excel, you can create a table out of a range of cells, which makes it easier to sort, filter, and format data.

When you import an Excel workbook, Power BI looks for these tables and imports them into a dataset; if it doesn't find any tables, you'll see this error message.

Solution

1. Open your workbook in Excel.

    Note

   The pictures here are of Excel 2013. If you're using a different version, things may look a little different, but the steps are the same.

   

2. Select the range of cells that contain your data. The first row should contain your column headers (the column names):

   

3. In the ribbon on the INSERT tab, click Table. (Or, as a shortcut, press Ctrl + T.)

   

4. You'll see the following dialog. Make sure My table has headers is checked, and select OK:

   

5. Now your data is formatted as a table:

   

6. Save your workbook.

7. Return to Power BI. Select Get Data at the bottom of the nav pane.

   

8. In the Files box, select Get.

   

9. Import your Excel workbook again. This time, the import should find the table and succeed.

   If the import still fails, let us know by clicking **Community **in the help menu: