---
id: xlrd3
version: "1.1.0"
license: BSD
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: abandoned
---

# xlrd3 — Library for developers to extract data from Microsoft Excel (tm) spreadsheet files

License: permissive · Maintenance: abandoned · Downloads: 220.9K/mo

## What it is and what it does

xlrd3 is a read-only library for extracting data from Excel spreadsheet files in both .xls and .xlsx formats. It is a maintained fork of the archived xlrd project, dropping Python 2 support and fixing specific bugs related to memory handling and cross-platform comment parsing. The library provides programmatic access to workbook structure, sheet names, cell values, and row/column data—it is designed for data extraction, not for editing or writing spreadsheets.

The package has no runtime dependencies and installs with low friction. However, it has been abandoned since its latest release with no recent maintenance. It explicitly does not support formulas (only their calculated results), charts, macros, VBA modules, or password-protected files. For read-write workflows or editing xlsx files, alternative libraries are recommended instead.

Use it for:

- Extract tabular data from .xls files for data analysis or migration to other formats.
- Read .xlsx spreadsheets to populate databases or generate reports programmatically.
- Parse legacy .xls workbooks when you need both format support in a single library.
- Batch process multiple Excel files to collect cell values without manual intervention.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Reads data from Excel spreadsheet files (.xls and .xlsx formats) and extracts cell values, sheet metadata, and row/column information for programmatic access.

Yes, if you need read-only access to both .xls and .xlsx files and can accept an abandoned package with no further updates. The low install friction and permissive license make it suitable for extract-only workflows. No, if you need write support, active maintenance, or plan to handle edge cases in modern Excel files.

## Install

pip install xlrd3
uv add xlrd3
poetry add xlrd3

## Installing xlrd3

Before you install: Low install friction with no runtime dependencies. However, the package is abandoned—last release was in April 2021 and the repository shows no recent commits. Use only if you need read-only access to both .xls and .xlsx files and can accept no further maintenance.

License in practice: BSD permissive license allows commercial and private use with minimal restrictions, making it suitable for most projects that need only to read Excel files.

Quickstart:

pip install xlrd3

import xlrd3 as xlrd
book = xlrd.open_workbook("myfile.xls")
sh = book.sheet_by_index(0)
print(sh.cell_value(rowx=0, colx=0))

Requires Python 3.6 or later; does not support Python 2.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package handles all modern .xlsx file variations and edge cases reliably given its abandoned status.
- Performance characteristics when reading large spreadsheets with the on_demand mode.

## Package facts

- License: BSD (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: abandoned
- Downloads: 220.9K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

read excel files python, xls xlsx parser, extract data from spreadsheets, excel file reader library, parse microsoft excel files, excel-reader, data-extraction, abandoned

[View on SkillFed](https://skillfed.io/packages/xlrd3) · [View on PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/xlrd3/)