If you are using SPSS Version 25, the Read Excel File window will appear. In the screenshot example above, “Excel” is selected as the file type, so only Excel files in the current folder are visible. The file name will appear in the File name field. If you do not specify the type of file that you wish to open, your file will not appear in the list of available files.

In the Files of type list select Excel (*.xls, *.xlsx, *.xlsm) to specify that your data are in an Excel file. Once the data in your Excel file is formatted properly it can be imported into SPSS by following these steps:Ĭlick File > Open > Data. Here is an example of what properly formatted data looks like in Excel 2010: Missing values for string or numeric variables have blank (empty) cells, or an appropriate predetermined missing value code (such as -999).Anything that is not part of the data itself (e.g., extra text, labels, graphs, Pivot Tables) should be removed.The data should begin in the first column, second row (beneath the variable names row) of the spreadsheet.Variable names should include ordinary letters, numbers, and underscores (e.g., Gender, Grad_Date, Test_1) and not include special characters (e.g., ' Graduation Date' would not be a valid variable name because it contains a space).The spreadsheet should have a single row of variable names across the top of the spreadsheet in the first row.To import data from an Excel spreadsheet into SPSS, first make sure your Excel spreadsheet is formatted according to these criteria:

Importing text files into excel