How to Read Excel Files in Java with Free Spire.XLS – Step-by-Step Guide

Reading Excel data programmatically enables automation of data import, batch processing, comparison, and updates, improving efficiency and reducing manual errors; the extracted data can also be integrated with other systems.

Read a specific cell

Read a range of cells

Read an entire worksheet

Install the free Java library

The free Java library for handling Excel is Free Spire.XLS for Java . It limits .xls files to 5 worksheets and 200 rows per sheet, but imposes no limits on .xlsx files.

You can download the package manually and add the JAR files, or install it via Maven.

Download link: https://www.e-iceblue.cn/Downloads/Free-Spire-XLS-JAVA.html

Core classes and methods for reading Excel data

The following interfaces from Free Spire.XLS for Java are used to read cells, ranges, or worksheets:

Workbook and Worksheet classes represent an Excel workbook and its sheets.

CellRange class represents a specific cell or a cell range.

Worksheet.getCellRange(String name) – obtains a CellRange for a given cell or range.

Worksheet.getAllocatedRange() – obtains the data‑filled range of a worksheet.

CellRange.getValue() – returns the value or text of a cell (formulas are returned as the formula string).

Example 1: Read a single cell

<code>import com.spire.xls.CellRange;
import com.spire.xls.Workbook;
import com.spire.xls.Worksheet;

public class ReadData {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create Workbook object
        Workbook wb = new Workbook();
        // Load Excel file
        wb.loadFromFile("货物.xlsx");
        // Get the first worksheet
        Worksheet sheet = wb.getWorksheets().get(0);
        // Get the specified cell
        CellRange cell = sheet.getCellRange("A9");
        // Print cell value
        System.out.print("A9 cell value is " + cell.getValue());
    }
}
</code>

Result of reading cell A9:

Example 2: Read a range of cells

<code>import com.spire.xls.CellRange;
import com.spire.xls.Workbook;
import com.spire.xls.Worksheet;

public class ReadData {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Workbook wb = new Workbook();
        wb.loadFromFile("货物.xlsx");
        Worksheet sheet = wb.getWorksheets().get(0);
        CellRange range = sheet.getCellRange("A11:F15");
        for (int i = 0; i < range.getRows().length; i++) {
            for (int j = 0; j < range.getColumnCount(); j++) {
                System.out.print(range.get(i + 11, j + 1).getValue() + "  ");
            }
            System.out.println();
        }
    }
}
</code>

Result of reading the cell range:

Example 3: Read an entire worksheet

<code>import com.spire.xls.CellRange;
import com.spire.xls.Workbook;
import com.spire.xls.Worksheet;

public class ReadData {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Workbook wb = new Workbook();
        wb.loadFromFile("货物.xlsx");
        Worksheet sheet = wb.getWorksheets().get(0);
        CellRange locatedRange = sheet.getAllocatedRange();
        for (int i = 0; i < locatedRange.getRows().length; i++) {
            for (int j = 0; j < locatedRange.getColumnCount(); j++) {
                System.out.print(locatedRange.get(i + 1, j + 1).getValue() + "  ");
            }
            System.out.println();
        }
    }
}
</code>

Result of reading the worksheet data:

These examples demonstrate how Java can be used to read Excel files for batch processing. The free Free Spire.XLS for Java library also supports generating, converting, editing, and printing Excel files; further details are available in its Chinese tutorial.