xlwt

1.3.0 · deprecated · verified Thu Apr 09

xlwt is a Python library for generating spreadsheet files compatible with MS Excel 97/2000/XP/2003 XLS files. It operates on any platform and supports Python 2.6, 2.7, and 3.3+. The current version is 1.3.0, released in 2017, and the project is effectively feature-frozen and no longer actively maintained.

Warnings

breaking xlwt only supports the legacy .xls file format (Excel 97-2003). It cannot read or write the modern .xlsx format (Excel 2007+).
Fix: For .xlsx files, use `openpyxl` (read/write) or `xlsxwriter` (write only) instead. If you strictly need .xls, then xlwt is suitable, but be aware of its limitations.
deprecated The xlwt library is no longer actively maintained and is considered feature-frozen. It has been largely superseded by more modern libraries for Excel file manipulation.
Fix: For new projects, consider using `openpyxl` for reading and writing .xlsx files, or `xlsxwriter` for writing .xlsx files. These libraries support modern Excel formats and features.
gotcha Due to the underlying .xls format, xlwt is limited to 65,536 rows and 256 columns per sheet. Exceeding these limits will result in errors.
Fix: Ensure your data fits within the .xls format limitations. For larger datasets, you must use a library that supports the .xlsx format (e.g., `openpyxl`), which has much higher limits (over 1 million rows, 16k columns).
gotcha xlwt does not support many advanced Excel features such as charts, pivot tables, macros, or more complex conditional formatting, which are common in modern spreadsheets.
Fix: If advanced Excel features are required, `xlsxwriter` (for writing) or `openpyxl` (for reading/writing) are better alternatives, as they offer more extensive feature sets for the .xlsx format.

Install

pip install xlwt Install xlwt

Imports

Workbook
```
import xlwt
workbook = xlwt.Workbook()
```
The primary class for creating an Excel workbook.
easyxf
```
import xlwt
style = xlwt.easyxf('font: bold on')
```
A convenient function for creating cell styles.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to create a new Excel .xls workbook, add a sheet, write data to cells, apply basic styling, and save the file. Remember that xlwt only produces the older .xls format.

import xlwt

# Create a new workbook
workbook = xlwt.Workbook()

# Add a sheet
sheet = workbook.add_sheet('Sheet1')

# Write some data to cells
sheet.write(0, 0, 'Name')
sheet.write(0, 1, 'Age')
sheet.write(1, 0, 'Alice')
sheet.write(1, 1, 30)

# Add some styling
style = xlwt.easyxf('font: bold on; align: horiz center')
sheet.write(2, 0, 'Bob', style)
sheet.write(2, 1, 24, style)

# Save the workbook
file_path = 'example.xls'
try:
    workbook.save(file_path)
    print(f'Successfully created {file_path}')
except Exception as e:
    print(f'Error saving workbook: {e}')

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