Converting an Excel Spreadsheet into a List

• About Windows SharePoint Services lists
• Example
• Converting the spreadsheet into a list
• Frequently asked questions
• See it in action
• Additional resources
   

About Windows SharePoint Services lists

Windows SharePoint Services lists are powerful ways to display information and links because they can be added to by users from their Web browsers, can be sorted and filtered on demand, and the data from lists can be inserted on multiple pages on a site. The good news is that it is easy to convert data in a Microsoft Office Excel spreadsheet into a Windows SharePoint Services list.

Example

You could take a staff list that was created with Excel and convert it to a Windows SharePoint Services list so that team members could update their information themselves, or sort or filter information when needed.

Converting the spreadsheet into a list

Here are the steps we took to convert an Excel spreadsheet to a Windows SharePoint Services list. If you want to try it yourself, download the Excel spreadsheet.

1. Browse to the Create page in your site created with Windows SharePoint  Services.
   
   Tip: You can find the Create page at http://<your -server>/_layouts/1033/create.aspx.  (Note that users with non-English versions of FrontPage should replace 1033 with the language number that corresponds to their version of FrontPage.)
    
2. Click the Import Spreadsheet link in the Custom Lists section. The New List page opens.
3. Type the name for the list in the Name field, and then type a description for the list in the Description field.
4. Click the Browse button. Locate the Excel spreadsheet that contains the data you want in your list, then click on the file name, and then click the Open button.
5. Click the Import button on the New List page. The Import to Windows SharePoint Services list dialog box opens.
6. Click the Range of Cells option in the Range Type drop down list.
   
   
    
7. Click the button on the Select Range drop down list. Your Excel spreadsheet opens with the Import to Windows SharePoint Services window.
   
   
    
8. Click and drag to highlight the areas of your spreadsheet you want to be included in your list. Be sure to include the column headings; they will become the field names and column titles in the list.
9. Click the button on the Import to Windows SharePoint Services window. The Import to Windows SharePoint Services list dialog box opens.
10. Click the Import button.  Your list is created.
    
    

Frequently asked questions

See it in action

The sales & marketing sample site's organization list was created from an Excel spreadsheet. The sales organization collapsed list on the home page is a view of that same data in the list.

Additional resources

Here are links to articles regarding lists: