C# Read XLSX File

Why use the WorkBook.Load() method?

In the above code, the WorkBook.Load() function loads sample.xlsx into workBook. Any type of function can be performed on workBook by accessing the specific WorkSheet of an Excel file. The WorkBook.Load method automatically detects the file format, whether it's XLS, XLSX, XLSM, XLTX, or CSV. For more advanced loading scenarios, check out the detailed guide on loading spreadsheets.

What are the different ways to access a worksheet?

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-get-worksheet.cs

using IronXL;

// Access sheet by name
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.GetWorkSheet("Sheet1");

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

workBook is the WorkBook that is declared in the above portion.

OR

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-worksheet-index.cs

using IronXL;

// Access sheet by index
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.WorkSheets[0];

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

OR

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-default-worksheet.cs

using IronXL;

// Access the default worksheet
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.DefaultWorkSheet;

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

OR

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-first-worksheet.cs

using IronXL;
using System.Linq;

// Access the first worksheet
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.WorkSheets.First();

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

OR

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-first-or-default-worksheet.cs

using IronXL;
using System.Linq;

// Access the first or default worksheet
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.WorkSheets.FirstOrDefault();

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

When should I use each worksheet access method?

Each method has its ideal use case:

• GetWorkSheet("name"): When you know the exact sheet name
• WorkSheets[index]: For iterating through sheets programmatically
• DefaultWorkSheet: Quick access when working with single-sheet files
• First() or FirstOrDefault(): Safe options when sheet names might change

After getting ExcelSheet workSheet, you can get any type of data from it and perform all Excel functions on it. For more complex worksheet operations, refer to the guide on opening Excel worksheets in C#.

What data types can I read from cells?

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-get-data.cs

using IronXL;

// Accessing data as a string
string dataString = workSheet["A1"].ToString();

// Accessing data as an integer
int dataInt = workSheet["B1"].Int32Value;

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

IronXL provides various value accessors for different data types:

• StringValue: For text data
• Int32Value: For integers
• DoubleValue: For decimals
• DateTimeValue: For dates
• BoolValue: For true/false values

How do I read multiple cells at once?

You can also get data from multiple cells of a specific column:

foreach (var cell in workSheet["A2:A10"])
{
    Console.WriteLine("Value is: {0}", cell.Text);
}

foreach (var cell in workSheet["A2:A10"])
{
    Console.WriteLine("Value is: {0}", cell.Text);
}

For Each cell In workSheet("A2:A10")
	Console.WriteLine("Value is: {0}", cell.Text)
Next cell

This displays the values from cell A2 to A10. For more advanced range selection techniques, visit the select range tutorial.

What does a complete implementation look like?

A complete code example of the specifics above is provided here:

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-log-data.cs

using IronXL;
using System;

// Load an Excel file
WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx");
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.GetWorkSheet("Sheet1");

// Specify the range
foreach (var cell in workSheet["B2:B10"])
{
    Console.WriteLine("Value is: {0}", cell.Text);
}

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

It displays the following result:

With the Excel file Sample.xlsx:

These methodologies show how effortless it is to use Excel file data in your project. For practical examples of reading Excel files without Interop, explore the read Excel examples.

Which aggregate functions are available?

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-aggregate-function.cs

using IronXL;

// Apply aggregate functions
decimal sum = workSheet["G2:G10"].Sum(); // Sum of cells from G2 to G10
decimal min = workSheet["G2:G10"].Min(); // Minimum value in cells from G2 to G10
decimal max = workSheet["G2:G10"].Max(); // Maximum value in cells from G2 to G10

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

IronXL supports numerous mathematical functions including:

• Average(): Calculate the mean value
• Count(): Count non-empty cells
• CountIf(): Count cells meeting criteria
• Median(): Find the middle value
• StdDev(): Calculate standard deviation

How do I implement multiple functions together?

For more details, check out our in-depth tutorial on How to Write C# Excel Files with specifics on aggregate functions. You can also explore the complete list of math functions available in IronXL.

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-min-max.cs

using IronXL;
using System;

// Load the Excel workbook
WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx");

// Get the specified WorkSheet
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.GetWorkSheet("Sheet1");

// Calculate sum, minimum, and maximum for a range of cells
decimal sum = workSheet["G2:G10"].Sum();
decimal min = workSheet["G2:G10"].Min();
decimal max = workSheet["G2:G10"].Max();

// Output results
Console.WriteLine("Sum is: {0}", sum);
Console.WriteLine("Min is: {0}", min);
Console.WriteLine("Max is: {0}", max);

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

This code displays the following output:

And this is how the Excel file Sample.xlsx looks:

What is the basic conversion method?

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-datatable.cs

using IronXL;
using System.Data;

// Convert worksheet to DataTable
DataTable dt = workSheet.ToDataTable();

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

How do I use the first row as column headers?

To use the first row of ExcelSheet as DataTable ColumnName:

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-datatable-header.cs

using IronXL;
using System.Data;

// Convert worksheet to DataTable with the first row as column names
DataTable dt = workSheet.ToDataTable(true);

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

The Boolean parameter of ToDataTable() sets the first row as the column names of your DataTable. By default, its value is False. This is especially useful when working with structured data that includes headers.

How do I iterate through the DataTable?

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-print-datatable.cs

using IronXL;
using System;
using System.Data;

// Load the Excel workbook
WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx");

// Get the specified WorkSheet
WorkSheet workSheet = workBook.GetWorkSheet("Sheet1");

// Convert WorkSheet to DataTable
DataTable dt = workSheet.ToDataTable(true); // Use first row as column names

// Iterate through rows and columns and display data
foreach (DataRow row in dt.Rows) // Access rows
{
    for (int i = 0; i < dt.Columns.Count; i++) // Access columns of corresponding row
    {
        Console.Write(row[i] + " ");
    }
    Console.WriteLine();
}

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

Using the above code, every cell value of the WorkSheet can be accessed and used as required. For more advanced DataTable operations, see the guide on importing and exporting as DataSet.

How do I convert a workbook to DataSet?

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-file-excel-to-dataset.cs

using IronXL;
using System;
using System.Data;

// Load the Excel workbook
WorkBook workBook = WorkBook.Load("sample.xlsx");

// Convert the WorkBook to a DataSet
DataSet ds = workBook.ToDataSet();

// Iterate through tables in the DataSet and display table names
foreach (DataTable dt in ds.Tables)
{
    Console.WriteLine(dt.TableName);
}

IRON VB CONVERTER ERROR developers@ironsoftware.com

The output of the above code looks like this:

And the Excel file Sample.xlsx looks like this:

How do I access each cell value across all worksheets?

In the above example, we can easily parse an Excel file into a DataSet and work with every WorkSheet of an Excel file as a DataTable. Dive deeper into how to parse Excel as a DataSet here featuring code examples.

Let's see one more example of how to access each cell value of all ExcelSheets. Here, we can access each cell value of every WorkSheet of an Excel file.

:path=/static-assets/excel/content-code-examples/how-to/c-sharp-read-xlsx-all-excel-sheets.cs

// THIS CODE SNIPPET IS NOT AVAILABLE!

' THIS CODE SNIPPET IS NOT AVAILABLE!

Using the above example, it is convenient to access each cell value of every WorkSheet of an Excel file. This approach is particularly useful when dealing with multi-sheet workbooks where data is distributed across different tabs.

For more on how to Read Excel Files Without Interop check out the code here. The API reference documentation provides comprehensive details about all available methods and properties at the IronXL API Reference.

Tutorial Quick Access

API Reference for IronXL

Read more about IronXL's features, classes, method fields, namespaces, and enums in the documentation.

API Reference for IronXL