Copy Tables from Any Website to Excel — 3 Methods
You found a useful table on a website and need it in Excel. The obvious solution—copy and paste—often results in broken formatting, merged cells, and hours of cleanup. Let's look at the options.
Fastest method: Use HTML Table Exporter to export directly to XLSX format. Click the extension, click XLSX, open in Excel. Takes about 10 seconds.
3 methods to copy tables to Excel
There are three main approaches, each with trade-offs:
| Method | Speed | Formatting | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copy-paste | Fast | Often breaks | Simple tables |
| Excel web query | Medium | Good | Refreshable data |
| Browser extension | Fastest | Clean | Most use cases |
Method 1: Copy and paste (manual)
The traditional approach:
- Select the table on the website (click and drag)
- Press Ctrl+C (or Cmd+C on Mac)
- Open Excel, click a cell, press Ctrl+V
Problems with this method:
- Hyperlinks often come along and clutter your data
- Hidden characters cause sorting and formula issues
- Merged cells from the website become unmerged incorrectly
- Numbers may paste as text (won't work in formulas)
Method 2: Excel web query
Excel can import data directly from web pages:
- In Excel, go to Data → Get Data → From Web
- Paste the URL of the page with your table
- Excel shows all tables on the page; select the one you want
- Click Load
Advantages: Data is "connected". You can refresh it later.
Disadvantages: Only works with publicly accessible pages (no login), can be slow, doesn't work well with JavaScript-rendered content.
Method 3: Browser extension (recommended)
A browser extension like HTML Table Exporter runs directly in your browser, which means it can handle JavaScript-rendered content that Excel's web query can't access.
Install the extension
Add HTML Table Exporter to Chrome. Takes 10 seconds, no account needed.
Go to your table
Navigate to any page with an HTML table. Click on the table you want to export. When you open the extension, that table will be marked and displayed in the popup, so you can click the export options easily without having to search for it.
Click the extension, then XLSX
Click the extension icon, find your table, click the XLSX button. File downloads immediately.
Open in Excel
Double-click the downloaded file. It opens in Excel with clean formatting.
Time savings
If you export tables weekly, a browser extension saves 5–10 minutes per export. That's 4–8 hours per year—worth the 30 seconds to install.
Export this table to Excel right now →
Export to Excel quickly
HTML Table Exporter exports directly to XLSX format that opens perfectly in Excel. No cleanup needed.
No account required · Works offline · Clean Excel files