Using C# to Create Excel Files in .Net

Creating Excel files in C# can be simple even without dependency on the legacy Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel library.

In this tutorial we will use IronXL to create an Excel WorkBook file on any platform that supports .Net Framework 4.5 or .Net Core.

Installation

Before we start we need to install the IronXL Excel NuGet Package.

 PM > Install-Package IronXL.Excel

https://www.nuget.org/packages/IronXL.Excel/

As an alternative, the IronXL.Dll can be downloaded and added to your project.

Create and save an Excel File

using IronXL;

//default file format is XLSX, we can override it using CreatingOptions
WorkBook workbook = WorkBook.Create(ExcelFileFormat.XLSX);
var sheet = workbook.CreateWorkSheet("example_sheet");

sheet["A1"].Value = "Example";
//set value to multiple cells
sheet["A2:A4"].Value = 5;
sheet["A5"].Style.SetBackgroundColor("#f0f0f0");
//set style to multiple cells
sheet["A5:A6"].Style.Font.Bold = true;
//set formula
sheet["A6"].Value = "=SUM(A2:A4)";

if (sheet["A6"].IntValue == sheet["A2:A4"].IntValue)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Basic test passed");
}

workbook.SaveAs("example_workbook.xlsx");

Imports IronXL

'default file format is XLSX, we can override it using CreatingOptions
Private workbook As WorkBook = WorkBook.Create(ExcelFileFormat.XLSX)
Private sheet = workbook.CreateWorkSheet("example_sheet")

Private sheet("A1").Value = "Example"
'set value to multiple cells
Private sheet("A2:A4").Value = 5
sheet("A5").Style.SetBackgroundColor("#f0f0f0")
'set style to multiple cells
sheet("A5:A6").Style.Font.Bold = True
'set formula
sheet("A6").Value = "=SUM(A2:A4)"

If sheet("A6").IntValue = sheet("A2:A4").IntValue Then
	Console.WriteLine("Basic test passed")
End If

workbook.SaveAs("example_workbook.xlsx")

VB C#

Moving Forward

To learn more about creating Excel files in C# .Net, we encourage you to work with this code sample and explore the object reference to move forwards to meet you own project's specific need.

Jonas is a lead developer at a Munich .Net Software House. Jonas uses IronXL to drive the data exchange between a customer's accounting and sales pipeline excel documents. IronXL is becoming a common tool in many of Jonas' customer accounting system projects.

Jonas Schmidt

C# Developer

Jonas is a lead developer at a Munich .Net Software House. Jonas uses IronXL to drive the data exchange between a customer's accounting and sales pipeline excel documents. IronXL is becoming a common tool in many of Jonas' customer accounting system projects.

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