Importing from Excel

You can open Excel .XLS or .XLSX files as Excel workbooks -- which launches an OLE instance of MS Excel -- or you can import the data into Origin workbooks. Because the OLE environment -- Excel workbooks in an Excel instance running inside of Origin -- largely limits you to plotting related tasks, importing the data into Origin workbooks is probably the better choice. If you want to perform analysis or data manipulation operations on your Excel data, you should import your data into Origin. To learn more about Opening vs Importing of Microsoft Excel, see the chapter entitled: Working with Microsoft Excel.

To import an Excel file:

Select File: Import: Excel (XLS, XLSX). This opens the Excel dialog box.
Add your files one at a time or press CTRL or SHIFT to select multiple files, and click Add File(s). After choosing all the files, click the OK button. For more information about this setting, please see below.
Make necessary adjustments in the impExcel dialog box, then click the OK button to import the files into Origin.

Additional Excel dialog box controls

Use the Remove File(s) button to remove selected files from the import file list.
Click the buttons (see the picture below) over the import file list to sort the files by File Name, Size or Modified date.

Origin opens a secondary dialog box -- the impExcel dialog box -- when you click the OK button. The impExcel dialog box allows more controls over the way in which .XLS or .XLSX files are imported:

File Name	The File Name box lists all the files that have been chosen in the Excel dialog. Note that you can click the Browse button to the right to re-select your files.
File Info And Data Selection	The non-editable Fileinfo text box under each file name shows the size of the Excel file, all sheets in the Excel file are shown too and you can decide which sheet to be imported.
1st File Import Mode	Choose the import mode for the first import file. In the drop-down list, you can select Start New Books to import the first file to a new workbook or Start New Sheets to import the first file to the new worksheet of the specified workbook.
Multi-File (except 1st) Import Mode	Choose the import mode for the multi-files (except the 1st one). In the drop-down list, you can select Start New Books to import each file to its own new workbook or Start New Sheets to import the files to their own new worksheets in the workbook which the 1st file has been imported into.
Use Excel COM Component to Import	Specify whether to use the COM component provided by Excel to import the file.
Import Cell Formats	Apply Excel formatting to corresponding Origin worksheet cells.
Maximum Number of Empty Columns (-1 for all)	Specify the maximum number of empty columns that will be imported into Origin.
Column Headers	Use these boxes to specify which rows, if any, should be supply Origin worksheet column Short Name, Long Name, Unit and Comment for the workbook, the Number of Main Header Lines can be specified too. Number of Main Header Lines: Specify the number of the main header lines, which will be skipped upon importing. Index of Rows for Short Name: Specify the row index for column short name row. Index of Rows for Long Name: Specify the row index for column long name row. Index of Rows for Unit: Specify the row index for column units row. Index of Rows for Comment From: Specify the index of the starting index of the comments rows. Index of Rows for Comment To: Specify the index of the ending index of the comments rows.
Column Designations	Apply Origin column plot designations to imported Excel workbook data.
Apply Header and Designation to	Specify whether the header and designation will be applied to all sheets. If only for the first worksheet, select First Sheet from the drop-down list, if for all worksheets, select All Sheets.
Import Options	This branch is used to specify how to rename the worksheet and workbook. Auto Rename Using File Name: If it is checked, Origin will use the default settings to rename the worksheet and workbook name, which is: (1) Use the whole filename (includes the file extension) as worksheet name. (2)Use the whole filename (includes the file extension) as workbook name. Rename Book with (Partial) Filename: Check this to use part of the filename as workbook name. Trim Filename From: Specify the start of the name. Trim Filename To: Specify the end of the name. Rename Long Name for Book only: Check this to rename the long name for book only, but not short name. Include File Path when Renaming Book: Specify if the file path should be included for the workbook name. Append Filename to Workbook Comment: Specify if the filename should be appended to the workbook comment. Include File Path when Appending Filename: When this is checked, the import file path is appended to the workbook's command and/or Comments row.