P a g e |1

Bb

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e |2

This page is intentionally left blank

to make this book look professional.

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e |3

Steal this book!

That is right. Feel free to forward this book to your friends or colleagues. Print it out and give
away copies if you want. Just don’t alter the contents.

If you want someone else to download this book, send them here:

https://chandoo.org/wp/python-for-excel-freebook

Thank you

Written by:

Chandoo (Purnachandra) Duggirala

Version 1.0

Originally published on 4-September 2023

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e |4

Contents
What is Python for Excel feature? .......................................................................................... 5
How do I enable Python for Excel? ........................................................................................ 5
I’ve joined the Insider Program; how do I know if I got Python? ................................................. 6
If you don’t see “Python” buttons in Formula ribbon:........................................................... 6
How to use Python in Excel – a quick tutorial ......................................................................... 6
10 Python Code Samples ..................................................................................................... 8
EXAMPLE 0...................................................................................................................... 8
EXAMPLE 1...................................................................................................................... 9
EXAMPLE 2...................................................................................................................... 9
EXAMPLE 3.....................................................................................................................10
EXAMPLE 4.....................................................................................................................10
EXAMPLE 5.....................................................................................................................11
EXAMPLE 6.....................................................................................................................11
EXAMPLE 7.....................................................................................................................12
EXAMPLE 8.....................................................................................................................13
EXAMPLE 9.....................................................................................................................14
EXAMPLE 10 ...................................................................................................................15
Errors and Problems: ..........................................................................................................15
Execution order of your code:...........................................................................................16
Resources to Learn Python..................................................................................................17
Python Videos ................................................................................................................17
Python Books .................................................................................................................18
Microsoft Resources ......................................................................................................18

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e |5

Getting Started with Python for Excel

What is Python for Excel feature?

You can now write Python code natively in Excel cells and return the output as either Python
objects or Excel values. For example, you want to perform quick statistical analysis of your sales
data in the range A1:D10. You can use the below Python code to do this now.
=XL("A1:D10", headers=True).describe()

How do I enable Python for Excel?

This “preview” feature is only available with Excel 365 beta users as of September 2023.

If you have Excel 365, you can go to File > Account to enable “insider” program. More details on
eligibility and instructions are here - https://insider.microsoft365.com/en-us/join/windows

After you’ve joined the program, update your Office from File > Account page.

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e |6

I’ve joined the Insider Program; how do I know if I got

Python?
Open Excel and go to Formula Ribbon. If you have Python, it will show up in the ribbon like
below.

If you don’t see “Python” buttons in Formula ribbon:

You may have to wait a bit longer. Check and update Office once every 2 weeks.

How to use Python in Excel – a quick tutorial

Open Excel and load any of your data files. Alternatively, if you need sample data, copy paste
the below table into Excel.
Sales Person Product Country Date Sales Boxes

Gigi Bohling Manuka Honey Choco India 20-Jul-23 8162 742

Barr Faughny White Choc Canada 16-Aug-23 2485 355

Marney O'Breen Peanut Butter Cubes India 14-Jul-23 10255 733

Wilone O'Kielt Mint Chip Choco India 2-Jul-23 16800 800

Gunar Cockshoot Orange Choco New Zealand 2-Aug-23 2842 203

Andria Kimpton Baker's Choco Chips Canada 18-Jul-23 9373 427

Beverie Moffet Fruit & Nut Bars India 14-Jul-23 6573 598

Mallorie Waber Baker's Choco Chips India 24-Jul-23 3598 150

Barr Faughny Spicy Special Slims Canada 11-Jul-23 5138 571

Dennison Crosswaite White Choc Canada 22-Jul-23 1547 258

Ches Bonnell 99% Dark & Pure New Zealand 16-Aug-23 12901 993

Andria Kimpton Organic Choco Syrup USA 16-Jul-23 7161 651

Gunar Cockshoot Fruit & Nut Bars New Zealand 19-Jul-23 11935 1492

Beverie Moffet After Nines India 18-Aug-23 5089 268

Gunar Cockshoot Peanut Butter Cubes USA 11-Jul-23 9247 578

Andria Kimpton Peanut Butter Cubes India 22-Jul-23 10731 826

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e |7

Gigi Bohling After Nines Australia 4-Jul-23 9730 609

Gunar Cockshoot Eclairs USA 1-Aug-23 3150 287

Karlen McCaffrey 99% Dark & Pure USA 6-Aug-23 2247 205

Roddy Speechley Peanut Butter Cubes USA 1-Jul-23 2765 213

Brien Boise Caramel Stuffed Bars India 3-Aug-23 7112 647

Wilone O'Kielt Organic Choco Syrup UK 27-Aug-23 3787 345

Dennison Crosswaite Peanut Butter Cubes Canada 29-Aug-23 2674 168

Gigi Bohling White Choc India 14-Aug-23 378 54

Karlen McCaffrey Raspberry Choco Australia 7-Jul-23 7217 401

Marney O'Breen Spicy Special Slims New Zealand 19-Aug-23 735 147

Mallorie Waber Organic Choco Syrup UK 3-Jul-23 4690 427

Karlen McCaffrey Manuka Honey Choco India 24-Jul-23 8008 572

Wilone O'Kielt Spicy Special Slims Australia 18-Jul-23 12586 2518

1. Once you have some data in Excel, press CTRL ALT SHIFT P to enable Python mode. If
you get a “welcome to Python screen” complete the tour and then press the shortcut
again.
2. Using your mouse or keyboard, select the data in your workbook. Excel should write the
necessary XL() command to capture your data into Python as a dataframe.

DATAFRAME: a dataframe is a python concept for storing data. They are like
Excel tables. Each column of dataframe has one kind of data.

3. To see the dataframe you just built, press CTRL Enter. Excel will display a “Python
Object” in the cell.

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e |8

To see the “actual” data instead of Python Object, right click on the cell and change output to
Excel values.

10 Python Code Samples

Use these code samples to play with Python in Excel.

Before starting.

• Copy the above table of sample data and paste it in Excel (in range A1:F30).
Alternatively, download this file with the data.
• To type the code, enter python mode (CTRL ALT SHIFT P) or use the formula =PY( in a
cell.

EXAMPLE 0
Construct dataframe
df = xl("A1:F30", headers=True)

Explanation & Output

This will just create a dataframe named df and return that to the cell. You can either leave it or
see the underlying data (which will be same as A1:F30) by changing the output style.

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e |9

EXAMPLE 1
Description of the data
df.describe()

Explanation & Output

This will generate a dataframe with statistical descriptions for all your number columns.
Example output is shown below.

EXAMPLE 2
Description of the data, all columns
df.describe(include="all")

Explanation & Output

This will generate a dataframe with statistical descriptions for all your columns. Perfect for
situations when you have some text, dates and numbers in your data. Sample output shown
below:

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e | 10

EXAMPLE 3
Unique Product Names
df["Product"].unique()

Explanation & Output

This will generate a python array (ndarray) that has all the product names with duplicate values
removed.

EXAMPLE 4
Add “Sales per Box” calculated column to the dataframe
df["sales per box"]=df["Sales"]/df["Boxes"]

Explanation & Output

This will add a new column [“sales per box”] to the dataframe with the calculation logic: sales
divided by boxes. You can use the same approach to add many other columns.

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e | 11

Homework Problems
Can you add calculated columns for below situations:

• Sales value rounded to nearest thousand.

• Month number of the sales date
• Flag each record as “Canada” or “Non-Canada”

EXAMPLE 5
Add “Sales as percentage” calculated column to the dataframe
total_sales = sum(df.Sales)
df["Sales as a percentage"] = df["Sales"]/total_sales
df

Explanation & Output

First, we calculate the “total_sales” and keep it in a variable. Then we use that variable to
calculate the sales as a percentage.

TIP: Do you notice the different ways in which you can refer dataframe columns? You can use
dot notation (ex: df.Sales) or bracket notation (ex: df[“Sales”])

EXAMPLE 6
Group Sales by Date and Show a Pivot
df.groupby(by="Date").sum()

Explanation & Output

This creates a default groupby (similar to pivot in Excel) of your data by showing totals by date.
This will sum() all the number columns in your dataframe. See the below sample output.

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e | 12

EXAMPLE 7
Group Sales by Date but only show Sales & Boxes columns
df.groupby("Date")[["Sales", "Boxes"]].sum()

Explanation & Output

This creates a customized groupby with Sales & Boxes columns totals by Date. Use this pattern
when you don’t want to summarize certain things (like Sales per box).

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e | 13

EXAMPLE 8
Create a bar graph with Daily Sales
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

plt.bar(df["Date"], df["Sales"])

Explanation & Output

We import the plotting library matplotlib.pyplot and use that to generate a bar graph with default
settings.

Sample output is shown below:

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e | 14

EXAMPLE 9
Create a bar graph with Daily Sales – another method
df_groups = df.groupby("Date")["Sales"].sum()
df_groups.plot(kind="bar")

Explanation & Output

This code uses the built-in plotting function of the pandas library to generate the bar graph.
Notice how this doesn’t show missing dates.

Sample output is shown below:

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e | 15

EXAMPLE 10
Filter the dataframe to show all records where the product has the word “Choc”
df[df["Product"].str.contains("Choc")]

Explanation & Output

This code generates a new dataframe that contains all rows where the Product column has the
word “Choc” in it.

Homework Problems
• Can you filter all the records that have either “Choc” or “choc”?
• Create a bar graph of this data to show total sales by each product

Errors and Problems:

• You need internet connection to run Python code in Excel. All the code you write is
executed in Microsoft Cloud. This also means your data travels on the network to
Microsoft Cloud and returns with the result.

• If there is an error in your code, Excel will show the error code #PYTHON! In the cell.

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e | 16

• Excel will also automatically open the diagnostics panel with more information about
your error.

Execution order of your code:

The python code you write in Excel will run in row-major order. This means, the code runs row
by row, left to right. See this illustration to understand the process.

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e | 17

Resources to Learn Python

Now that you are familiar with Python in Excel, you may want to learn more. May I suggest using
the below approach.

1. See if you can enable use Python in Excel to get a feel of the technology.
2. Install a proper Python IDE like Anaconda, VS Code or something else to learn & practice
Python properly.
3. Understand the Python programming concepts like variables, conditions, list
comprehension, dataframes and EDA. Here is a good article on the process.
4. Apply these concepts on your own / business data to solidify your understanding.
5. If you need practice datasets, try Kaggle.

Python Videos 📺
Python in Excel (video by Chandoo)
[NEW]

How to use Python as an Excel Person – FREE Masterclass + 3 Projects

[300k+ views, 1.5 hours long]

End to End data manipulation with Pandas - 10 Examples

[35k views, 18 mins]

Python Playlist on Chandoo

Python in Excel (video by Leila Gharani)

Python for Beginners (video by Mosh)

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e | 18

Python Books 📚
Python Crash Course 2nd Edition by Eric Matthes - https://amzn.to/3PBzYRK

This is the book we all (Jo, kids & I) read and really loved it. The explanations and examples are
easy enough to get started. There is enough variety to please everyone.

Automate boring stuff with Python - https://amzn.to/3Py5T5w

More practical if you want to get things done with Python. I read it a few times and really like the
practicality of the book.

Python Data Science Handbook - https://amzn.to/3MFKOUK

Python is particularly useful for doing data science & building machine learning models. This is
an area of focus for me in the next months. I suggest getting the Python Data Science book once
you have strong foundation in the language.

Microsoft Resources 🌐
As part of the Python for Excel launch, Microsoft also added many resources and example
pages to their website. Check out these pages.

• Getting started with Python in Excel

• Introduction to Python – Microsoft Learn Course
• Using “dataframes” in Excel
• Power Query and Python in Excel
• Libraries supported by Excel Python

ALL THE BEST with your Python Learning

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023

 P a g e | 19

Getting Stared with Python in Excel © Chandoo.org - 2023