How to Update an SQL Table from Excel: Easiest Method

Many teams struggle to find safe and easy solutions for updating SQL tables. We often hear from team members in charge of data management who have to direct crucial resources to building or maintaining tools for SQL data management, wary of letting business users handle udpates on their own.

SQL Spreads – an Excel Add-In – solves this problem by giving you and your team a simple yet secure way to update SQL Server tables directly in Excel (every business user’s favorite!). Its designated Designer and Editor roles safeguards data quality and makes sure that business users can only update what you have permitted, streamlining your Excel and SQL data workflows.

Why end users love working in Excel

You know it, we know it: end users love working in Excel. They know the tool, are familiar with it, and are free to do what they want.

This freedom is also the start of problems for the people taking care of the data. The ability to add cells and enter “whatever-you-like” values causes huge problems when trying to store and summarize the data in a structured way.

Updating or collecting “not-available-in-our-systems” data from colleagues is often done by mailing out some Excel file or putting a spreadsheet on a file share.

Typical problems include:

• Cells in the spreadsheet can contain invalid data types.
• There will be problems when users change the layout of the sheet.
• Difficulties to keep track of previous versions of the Excel spreadsheet.
• Hard to track who has changed a specific value in a sheet.
• Troublesome to extract Excel data (with a tool such as SSIS).

SQL Spreads makes it easy

In finance, IT and other fields, structured data is a vital part of the operations, and constantly dealing with the above problems is not an option. Instead of spending precious time troubleshooting or fixing data issues, you can — literally in minutes — let your end-users update data in structured SQL tables themselves, using Excel, with the SQL Spreads add-in, used by over 900 companies to streamline SQL Updates. 

With SQL Spreads: 

• No coding experience or extensive training is necessary
• Users work with a familiar and user-friendly Excel interface
• Data in SQL Server tables can be directly updated from Excel 
• Data is automatically validated
• Data from other Microsoft Excel documents can be pasted directly into the SQL Server connected documents.

Different permission roles ensure that you maintain control over the configuration, and business users can only edit data as you allow it.

In this step-by-step guide, I’ll walk you through how you can use SQL Spreads to efficiently and accurately update an SQL Server database from Excel. To follow along, download

You will learn: 

1. How to easily bring in your SQL Server tables into Excel for easy updating/management
2. How to share the document with your end users
3. How to keep track of data quality

How to Update an SQL Table from Excel: Step-by-step

To set up an Excel document to work with the data in an SQL Server table, follow these few simple steps:

Step 1: Download and install the Excel Add-In

Download and install the SQL Spreads Excel Add-In. You can get started with a free 14-day trial if you want to see it in action before committing.

Step 2: Connect to your SQL Server Database

Go to the SQL Spreads tab in Excel and select the Open Designer button.

Select your desired authentication method: Windows, SQL Server or Azure AD authentication and SQL Server Name and click on OK. You are now connected to your SQL Server database from within Excel.

Step 3: Select your SQL Server table to update

A list of databases will appear on the right in the SQL Spreads Designer. Designer mode keeps you in charge of the entire configuration, so that the end user – in Editor mode – is only able to make edits within the limits of your configuration.

Choose the database you are using and select an SQL table to update from Excel.

Step 4: Fine-tune your SQL Server table

From the Columns tab you can fine-tune how your table is presented in Excel. You can select the columns you want to update, rearrange them into the order you prefer, and change their names if desired.

Step 5: Update your SQL table from Excel

When you are finished fine-tuning your table, go to the spreadsheet and start updating the data from SQL Server. When you press the Save to Database button, the changes will be saved back to your SQL Server table.

There are several other great benefits of the SQL Spreads Designer to easily connect an Excel spreadsheet to a table in SQL Server. For example, you can:

• Set which columns are editable and which are “read-only”
• Select which rows in the database are loaded into the Excel spreadsheet
• Enable Change Tracking and the application will then insert the date and time when a row is changed, as well as the user making the change.
• Show drop-down lists where the user can select a readable text instead of a key value for columns relating to other tables.

Let non-technical users securely update SQL data in Excel

—without needing SQL expertise or IT assistance

After you exit the Design mode you can share your Excel document like any other Excel file. All the settings will follow the document and other users can use your Excel file to update the SQL tables from Excel.

But maybe one of the biggest benefits of SQL Spreads is its ease of use. And the benefits are not only for administrators but also for authorized users throughout your business or enterprise. Non-technical users can use SQL Server-connected Excel documents that you create and share with them. The result will be an accurate and effective collaboration with safeguards including built-in conflict detection.

Assured Data Quality

To get the highest possible quality of data, SQL Spreads uses several methods to guarantee the validity of the entered data:

• When figures are entered, they are validated against the data types of the database columns, and the user receives immediate feedback.
• Each changed row is tracked in the database to see when a row was changed and by who.
• A built-in conflict detection system enables safe and easy collaboration.
• When sharing the document with others, they can be given a Data Editor role to disable the Design mode to protect the Excel sheet set up that you’ve created.

You can read about more features here and learn how they maintain high data quality for your database – paramount for anyone handling SQL data. 

Automatic Lookup of key values from other tables

Databases contain relations, and a table with keys relating to other tables can be hard to update manually.

When updating a SQL Server table from within Excel, SQL Spreads can lookup those key values in other tables and show drop-down lists where the user can select a readable text instead of a keys value. When the changes are saved to the database, the looked up key will be saved to the database.

Familiar and User-friendly Excel Interface

The data in SQL Server tables can be directly updated from Excel. Users are authenticated using their Windows Login, SQL Server or Azure AD authentication and can only work with the Excel documents for which they are authorized.

Data is automatically validated when users enter their figures through SQL Spreads. And data from other Microsoft Excel documents can be pasted directly into the SQL Server connected documents. Unlike complex SQL scripts or bulk imports, SQL Spreads keeps the familiar Excel experience while syncing seamlessly with SQL Server.

Reduce time to update SQL data from hours to minutes

— without IT bottlenecks or complex scripts.

SQL Spreads: A Low-Stress Solution with High Value to Your Organization

With SQL Spreads, you can:

• Use Excel to work with data in SQL Server tables.
• Let non-technical users work with the SQL Server data.
• Ensure that the entered data is valid.

But more far-reaching benefits can be offered to your business or enterprise by using SQL Spreads. You will immediately see time savings across the board.

1. First, the setup is really fast and simple.
2. Second, when end-users enter data, SQL Spreads will guide them through the right way to enter the data.
3. Third, data owners will have the advantage of being able to easily access centralized data through Excel.
4. Fourth, you can put an end to struggling with importing Excel data using SSIS or maintaining VBA scripts.
5. Lastly, no more troubleshooting and correcting problems created by users altering the spreadsheet.

Those time-consuming processes and frustrations are replaced by SQL Spreads with fast, reliable data management.

Simplify SQL Updates in Excel – Start Using SQL Spreads Today

The best way to understand just how easy SQL Spreads can make your life is by seeing it in action. Our free SQL Spreads trial gives you access to all the features for 14 days.

Still not sure? Take a look at our library of demo videos, showing you how easy it is to create an Excel document and update the SQL table from Excel using the SQL Spreads add-in.

Editors note: This blog post was originally published for a previous version of SQL Spreads and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Article by

Johannes Åkesson

Worked in the Business Intelligence industry for the last 15+ years.

Founder of SQL Spreads – the data management solution to import, update and manage SQL Server data from within Excel.