How to scan barcodes into Microsoft Excel

You can create a real-time link between a sheet in Orca Scan and Microsoft Excel from the web application. Data collected by users with the Orca Scan mobile app will then be pushed directly into your Excel sheets from anywhere in the world.

To get started, log in to your Orca Scan account and create a Cloud Sheet. Once you’ve done that, use the following 4 steps to set up the connection.

  1. Get the export link from your Orca sheet
  2. Navigate to the Get Data section in Excel
  3. Paste the export link
  4. Set the import frequency

1. Go to the Integrations menu

Click Integrations Settings on the Sheet you want to set up.

Click on the 'Integrations' button at the top of the sheet
Click on the 'Integrations' button at the top of the sheet

2. Activate and copy the URL

Then Allow the Public URL access to activate the link and copy it to the clipboard.

Enable Public URL access and copy the Live Data URL to the clipboard
Enable Public URL access and copy the Live Data URL to the clipboard

3. Save updates in Orca

Finally, don’t forget to save the updates on the integrations settings.

Click save to confirm the integration changes
Click save to confirm the integration changes

Now, let’s head over to Microsoft Excel…

4. Go to Get Data section in Microsoft Excel

Find the Get Data menu Hover over From Other Sources, and click From Web

The window below will surface - now paste the link from Orca Scan

Paste in the URL when prompted
Paste in the URL when prompted

6. Approve import settings

Then connect with standard anonymous access (advanced: configure if needed)

Click connect
Click connect

7. Confirm and load data

Click Load

Review the data and click load
Review the data and click load

8. Set import frequency

You can configure how often Excel pulls data from Orca Scan.

Click the Refresh button to do it manually, as seen here:

Click the refresh button to manually update data from your Orca Scan sheet
Click the refresh button to manually update data from your Orca Scan sheet

URL export configurations

You can configure the data export by appending parameters to the URL, for example:

URL parameter Description
sortby=barcode&sortorder=desc Sort output by column
.html / .csv / .json / .xml Change output format
transactions=true Include audit trail
deltas=true Include deltas for numeric columns
datetimeformat=DD/MM/YYYY Change date format
timezone=-03:00 Change time zone

Important: always use a ? before the first parameter and an & before each additional parameter, for example https://api.orcascan.com/sheets/sJ0KYsnp-9b7Rl7i?transactions=true&deltas=true

That’s it!

Your Excel spreadsheet will now mirror everything in your Orca Sheet. So if you add, update or delete a row inside Orca Scan, Excel will pull those changes into your Excel Spreadsheet.

View your Orca Scan data in an Excel Spreadsheet
View your Orca Scan data in an Excel Spreadsheet

Important: Clearing your Orca Sheet will also clear the data from your Excel Spreadsheet.

Questions scanning barcodes into Excel?

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