Welcome back to another episode of Continuous Improvement, the podcast where we explore tips and strategies for personal and professional growth. I’m your host, Victor, and today we’ll be discussing a simple and free solution for importing real-time data from a website into Excel.

Recently, I received a question from an undergraduate student looking for help with importing real-time data into Excel for a homework assignment. Many financial data sources charge fees, but I had a handy solution that I’m going to share with you today.

To get started, open Microsoft Excel 365 and navigate to the Data tab. Look for the option to Get Data from Other Sources and select Web.

Next, you’ll need to input the URL that contains the data you want to retrieve. This could be from a website, an API, or any online source that provides real-time data.

Once you input the URL, the Navigator will display various tables to choose from. For our example, let’s select Table 8.

Fantastic! Now, the data will be imported into your Excel spreadsheet. However, please note that it will require manual refreshing. But don’t worry, there’s a way to automate this process as well.

Right-click on the imported data query and change its properties to refresh every 1 minute.

This works great for minute-by-minute updates. But what if you need nearly real-time updates every second? In that case, we’ll need to write some code.

Navigate to File, Options, and then Customize Ribbon. Under Main Tabs, enable the Developer Tab.

Now, in the Developer tab, select Visual Basic.

Choose Insert, then Module, and copy and paste the provided code snippet.

This code snippet will automate the process for you. It selects the appropriate sheet, copies the current value, finds the last row in the first column of another sheet, pastes the value there, refreshes all the data, and triggers itself every second for nearly real-time updates.

And that’s it! You now have a way to import real-time data into Excel for your various needs. Whether it’s financial data, stock prices, or any other dynamic information, this solution will keep you updated efficiently and effectively.

If you have any further questions or need additional guidance, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below. I’m here to help!

That brings us to the end of another episode of Continuous Improvement. I hope you found today’s discussion on importing real-time data into Excel insightful and practical. Remember, implementing continuous improvement practices in all aspects of our lives can lead to significant growth and success.

As always, thank you for tuning in. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review and share it with your friends and colleagues. Stay curious, keep learning, and join me next time as we continue our journey of continuous improvement.