How to Install `xlrd` in Python

v2.0.2 General Purpose Python !=3.0.*,!=3.1.*,!=3.2.*,!=3.3.*,!=3.4.*,!=3.5.*,>=2.7 BSD

Library for developers to extract data from Microsoft Excel (tm) .xls spreadsheet files

Install pip install xlrd

What is xlrd?

Library for developers to extract data from Microsoft Excel (tm) .xls spreadsheet files

xlrd is a library for reading data and formatting information from Excel files in the historical `` format.

This library will no longer read anything other than `` files. For alternatives that read newer file formats, please see

The following are also not supported but will safely and reliably be ignored:

Documentation → PyPI page → Author: Chris Withers

Quick Start

Minimal example to get started with xlrd:

import xlrd

print(xlrd.__version__)

Installation

pip (standard)

pip install xlrd

Virtual environment (recommended)

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate   # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install xlrd

pip3

pip3 install xlrd

conda

conda install -c conda-forge xlrd

Poetry

poetry add xlrd

Verify the Installation

After installing, confirm the package is available:

python -c "import xlrd; print(xlrd.__version__)"

If this prints a version number, installation succeeded. If you see a ModuleNotFoundError, see the errors section below.

Installation Errors

Common errors when installing xlrd with pip.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'xlrd'

Cause: The package is not installed in the current Python environment.

Fix: Run pip install xlrd. If using a virtual environment, ensure it is activated first.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'xlrd' (installed but still failing)

Cause: pip installed the package into a different Python than the one running your script.

Fix: Use python -m pip install xlrd to install into the interpreter you are running.

ImportError: cannot import name 'X' from 'xlrd'

Cause: The function or class does not exist in the installed version.

Fix: Check the version with pip show xlrd and upgrade with pip install --upgrade xlrd.

pip: command not found

Cause: pip is not in PATH or Python was not added to PATH during installation.

Fix: Try python -m pip install xlrd. On macOS/Linux try pip3.

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied

Cause: No write access to the system Python package directory.

Fix: Use a virtual environment, or add --user: pip install --user xlrd

SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED

Cause: pip cannot verify PyPI's SSL certificate — common behind corporate proxies.

Fix: Try: pip install --trusted-host pypi.org --trusted-host files.pythonhosted.org xlrd

Recent Releases

Version	Released
`2.0.2` latest	2025-06-14
`2.0.0`	2020-12-11
`2.0.1`	2020-12-11
`1.2.0`	2018-12-15
`1.1.0`	2017-08-22

Full release history on PyPI →

Manage xlrd

Upgrade to latest version

pip install --upgrade xlrd

Install a specific version

pip install xlrd==2.0.2

Uninstall

pip uninstall xlrd

Check what is installed

pip show xlrd

Last updated: 2026-04-11 • Data from PyPI

How to Install xlrd in Python