xlrd
Library for developers to extract data from Microsoft Excel (tm) .xls spreadsheet files
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you need to read .xls files. xlrd is the standard library for this task, has no dependencies, and carries no known vulnerabilities. However, note that it is aging (last release 426 days ago) and does not support newer Excel formats—if you work primarily with .xlsx or .xlsm files, look elsewhere. For legacy .xls data extraction, it remains a reliable choice.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- xlrd only reads .xls files; newer Excel formats (.xlsx, .xlsm) are not supported.
- Low friction install with no runtime dependencies.
- Maintenance status is aging—last release was 426 days ago—but the package is marked Production/Stable and has been actively maintained since 2006.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD (permissive) — BSD license is permissive, allowing use in commercial and open-source projects with minimal restrictions.
last release 2025-06-14 (426 days)
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 89,914,888 downloads/mo, #375 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install xlrd
import xlrd
book = xlrd.open_workbook("myfile.xls")
sh = book.sheet_by_index(0)
print(sh.cell_value(rowx=0, colx=0))- Whether the 426-day gap since last release indicates active maintenance or dormancy going forward.
- Performance characteristics on large .xls files or whether there are known scaling limits.
What it is and what it does
xlrd is a Python library for reading data from Microsoft Excel .xls files in the legacy binary format. It extracts cell values, sheet names, row and column counts, and the results of formula calculations, but does not support newer Excel formats (.xlsx, .xlsm) or advanced features like macros, charts, embedded objects, VBA modules, formulas themselves, comments, hyperlinks, or password-protected files.
The library is designed for straightforward data extraction from older spreadsheets. It has no runtime dependencies, installs easily, and works across Python 2.7 and Python 3.6 through 3.9. If you need to read modern Excel files or access advanced spreadsheet features, the maintainers recommend alternatives available at python-excel.org.
Use it for
- Extract numerical or text data from legacy .xls files in data pipelines or ETL workflows.
- Read historical Excel spreadsheets where only the .xls format is available and conversion is not an option.
- Automate batch processing of older Excel reports to parse cell values and sheet structure programmatically.
- Integrate .xls file reading into Python applications that must support legacy data sources.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you need to read .xls files.
xlrd is the standard library for this task, has no dependencies, and carries no known vulnerabilities. However, note that it is aging (last release 426 days ago) and does not support newer Excel formats—if you work primarily with .xlsx or .xlsm files, look elsewhere. For legacy .xls data extraction, it remains a reliable choice.
Install
xlrd on PyPI
Before you install
Low friction install with no runtime dependencies. Maintenance status is aging—last release was 426 days ago—but the package is marked Production/Stable and has been actively maintained since 2006.
xlrd only reads .xls files; newer Excel formats (.xlsx, .xlsm) are not supported.
License in practice
BSD license is permissive, allowing use in commercial and open-source projects with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install xlrd
import xlrd
book = xlrd.open_workbook("myfile.xls")
sh = book.sheet_by_index(0)
print(sh.cell_value(rowx=0, colx=0))Verify before relying
- Whether the 426-day gap since last release indicates active maintenance or dormancy going forward.
- Performance characteristics on large .xls files or whether there are known scaling limits.
Package facts
| License | BSD permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release !=3.0.*,!=3.1.*,!=3.2.*,!=3.3.*,!=3.4.*,!=3.5.*,>=2.7 |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Aging 426 days since the last release |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 89,914,888 / month, #375 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: PythonProgramming Language :: Python :: 2Programming Language :: Python :: 2.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.6Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: DatabaseTopic :: Office/BusinessTopic :: Software Development :: Libraries :: Python Modules |
Evidence: xlrd-2.0.2-py2.py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “excel spreadsheet parser”
- xlrdxlrd reads data and formatting information from legacy Excel .xls…
- xlcalculatorReads MS Excel files and translates Excel formulas into Python code…
- ssfFormats numbers and dates using ECMA-376 spreadsheet format codes,…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Python Modules packages
Converts domain names between Unicode and ASCII-compatible encoding (Punycode) according to IDNA 2008 and Unicode Technical Standard 46, with security validation and broader script coverage than the standard library.
Install it if you work with internationalized domain names, need to validate domains, or use HTTP clients that depend on it transitively.
Setuptools is a Python build backend and package management tool that handles building, distributing, and installing Python packages, including support for C/C++ extension modules.
PyYAML parses and emits YAML 1.1 data format, enabling serialization and deserialization of configuration files and Python objects to and from human-readable YAML text.
Pydantic validates Python data structures against type hints, coercing and checking input at runtime to ensure it matches a declared schema.
Provides reusable metadata objects for use with PEP-593 `typing.Annotated` to express common constraints like bounds, collection sizes, and predicates on types.
Install it if you use or build libraries that need to express type constraints in a standardized, inspectable way—or if you want to annotate your own types with…
Provides runtime tools to inspect and introspect Python type annotations, enabling programmatic examination of type hints at execution time.
See also excelrd · xlrd3 · xls2xlsx · xlutils · xlcalculator · pyexcel-xls · agate-excel · xlwt · pyxlsb · fastexcel