avadim/fast-excel-reader

Lightweight and very fast XLSX Excel Spreadsheet Reader in PHP

v2.26.0 2025-06-01 15:07 UTC

Requires

• php: >=7.4
• ext-ctype: *
• ext-mbstring: *
• ext-xmlreader: *
• ext-zip: *
• avadim/fast-excel-helper: ^1.2.3

Requires (Dev)

• phpunit/phpunit: ^9.0

MIT

• php
• excel
• spreadsheet
• xls
• xlsx
• library
• parser
• import
• reader
• PHPExcel
• MS Office
• office 2007

README

FastExcelReader

FastExcelReader is a part of the FastExcelPhp Project which consists of

• FastExcelWriter - to create Excel spreadsheets
• FastExcelReader - to reader Excel spreadsheets
• FastExcelTemplator - to generate Excel spreadsheets from XLSX templates
• FastExcelLaravel - special Laravel edition

Introduction

This library is designed to be lightweight, super-fast and requires minimal memory usage.

FastExcelReader can read Excel compatible spreadsheets in XLSX format (Office 2007+). It only reads data, but it does it very quickly and with minimal memory usage.

Features

• Supports XLSX format only (Office 2007+) with multiple worksheets
• Supports autodetect currency/numeric/date types
• Supports auto formatter and custom formatter of datetime values
• The library can define and extract images from XLSX files
• The library can read styling options of cells - formatting patterns, colors, borders, fonts, etc.

Installation

Use composer to install FastExcelReader into your project:

composer require avadim/fast-excel-reader

Jump to:

• Simple example
• Read values row by row in loop
• Keys in resulting arrays
• Empty cells & rows
• Advanced example
• Date Formatter
• Images functions
• Cell value types
• How to get complete info about the cell style
• Retrieve data validation rules
• Column Widths
• Row Heights
• Freeze Pane Info
• Tab Color Info
• Info about merged cells
• Some useful methods

Usage

You can find more examples in /demo folder

Simple example

use \avadim\FastExcelReader\Excel;

$file = __DIR__ . '/files/demo-00-simple.xlsx';

// Open XLSX-file
$excel = Excel::open($file);
// Read all values as a flat array from current sheet
$result = $excel->readCells();

You will get this array:

Array
(
    [A1] => 'col1'
    [B1] => 'col2'
    [A2] => 111
    [B2] => 'aaa'
    [A3] => 222
    [B3] => 'bbb'
)

// Read all rows in two-dimensional array (ROW x COL)
$result = $excel->readRows();

You will get this array:

Array
(
    [1] => Array
        (
            ['A'] => 'col1'
            ['B'] => 'col2'
        )
    [2] => Array
        (
            ['A'] => 111
            ['B'] => 'aaa'
        )
    [3] => Array
        (
            ['A'] => 222
            ['B'] => 'bbb'
        )
)

// Read all columns in two-dimensional array (COL x ROW)
$result = $excel->readColumns();

You will get this array:

Array
(
    [A] => Array
        (
            [1] => 'col1'
            [2] => 111
            [3] => 222
        )

    [B] => Array
        (
            [1] => 'col2'
            [2] => 'aaa'
            [3] => 'bbb'
        )

)

Read values row by row in loop

$sheet = $excel->sheet();
foreach ($sheet->nextRow() as $rowNum => $rowData) {
    // $rowData is array ['A' => ..., 'B' => ...]
    $addr = 'C' . $rowNum;
    if ($sheet->hasImage($addr)) {
        $sheet->saveImageTo($addr, $fullDirectoryPath);
    }
    // handling of $rowData here
    // ...
}

// OR
foreach ($sheet->nextRow() as $rowNum => $rowData) {
    // handling of $rowData here
    // ...
    // get image list from current row
    $imageList = $sheet->getImageListByRow();
    foreach ($imageList as $imageInfo) {
        $imageBlob = $sheet->getImageBlob($imageInfo['address']);
    }
}

// OR
foreach ($sheet->nextRow(['A' => 'One', 'B' => 'Two'], Excel::KEYS_FIRST_ROW) as $rowNum => $rowData) {
    // $rowData is array ['One' => ..., 'Two' => ...]
    // ...
}

NOTE: Every time you call the foreach ($sheet->nextRow() as $rowIndex => $row) loop, reading data starts from the first row.

But there is an alternative way to read row by row - using the readNextRow() method. In this case, you first need to call the $sheet->reset(...) method with the required reading parameters, and then you can call $sheet-readNextRow(). If at some point you need to start reading data from the beginning, you need to call $sheet->reset(...) again.

// Init the internal read generator
$sheet->reset(['A' => 'One', 'B' => 'Two'], Excel::KEYS_FIRST_ROW);

// read the first row
$rowData = $sheet->readNextRow();
var_dump($rowData);

// Read the next 3 rows
for ($i = 0; $i < 3; $i++) {
    $rowData = $sheet->readNextRow();
    var_dump($rowData);
}

// Reset the internal generator and read all rows starting from the first one
$sheet->reset(['A' => 'One', 'B' => 'Two'], Excel::KEYS_FIRST_ROW);
$result = [];
while ($rowData = $sheet->readNextRow()) {
    $result[] = $rowData;
}
var_dump($result);

Keys in resulting arrays

// Read rows and use the first row as column keys
$result = $excel->readRows(true);

You will get this result:

Array
(
    [2] => Array
        (
            ['col1'] => 111
            ['col2'] => 'aaa'
        )
    [3] => Array
        (
            ['col1'] => 222
            ['col2'] => 'bbb'
        )
)

The optional second argument specifies the result array keys

// Rows and cols start from zero
$result = $excel->readRows(false, Excel::KEYS_ZERO_BASED);

You will get this result:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => 'col1'
            [1] => 'col2'
        )
    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => 111
            [1] => 'aaa'
        )
    [2] => Array
        (
            [0] => 222
            [1] => 'bbb'
        )
)

Allowed values of result mode

mode options	descriptions
KEYS_ORIGINAL	rows from '1', columns from 'A' (default)
KEYS_ROW_ZERO_BASED	rows from 0
KEYS_COL_ZERO_BASED	columns from 0
KEYS_ZERO_BASED	rows from 0, columns from 0 (same as KEYS_ROW_ZERO_BASED + KEYS_COL_ZERO_BASED)
KEYS_ROW_ONE_BASED	rows from 1
KEYS_COL_ONE_BASED	columns from 1
KEYS_ONE_BASED	rows from 1, columns from 1 (same as KEYS_ROW_ONE_BASED + KEYS_COL_ONE_BASED)

Additional options that can be combined with result modes

options	descriptions
KEYS_FIRST_ROW	the same as true in the first argument
KEYS_RELATIVE	index from top left cell of area (not sheet)
KEYS_SWAP	swap rows and columns

For example

$result = $excel->readRows(['A' => 'bee', 'B' => 'honey'], Excel::KEYS_FIRST_ROW | Excel::KEYS_ROW_ZERO_BASED);

You will get this result:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [bee] => 111
            [honey] => 'aaa'
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [bee] => 222
            [honey] => 'bbb'
        )

)

Empty cells & rows

The library already skips empty cells and empty rows by default. Empty cells are cells where nothing is written, and empty rows are rows where all cells are empty. If a cell contains an empty string, it is not considered empty. But you can change this behavior and skip cells with empty strings.

$sheet = $excel->sheet();

// Skip empty cells and empty rows
foreach ($sheet->nextRow() as $rowNum => $rowData) {
    // handle $rowData
}

// Skip empty cells and cells with empty strings
foreach ($sheet->nextRow([], Excel::TREAT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_EMPTY_CELL) as $rowNum => $rowData) {
    // handle $rowData
}

// Skip empty cells and empty rows (rows containing only whitespace characters are also considered empty)
foreach ($sheet->nextRow([], Excel::TRIM_STRINGS | Excel::TREAT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_EMPTY_CELL) as $rowNum => $rowData) {
    // handle $rowData
}

Other way

$sheet->reset([], Excel::TRIM_STRINGS | Excel::TREAT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_EMPTY_CELL);
$rowData = $sheet->readNextRow();
// do something

$rowData = $sheet->readNextRow();
// handle next row

// ...

Advanced example

use \avadim\FastExcelReader\Excel;

$file = __DIR__ . '/files/demo-02-advanced.xlsx';

$excel = Excel::open($file);

$result = [
    'sheets' => $excel->getSheetNames() // get all sheet names
];

$result['#1'] = $excel
    // select sheet by name
    ->selectSheet('Demo1') 
    // select area with data where the first row contains column keys
    ->setReadArea('B4:D11', true)  
    // set date format
    ->setDateFormat('Y-m-d') 
    // set key for column 'C' to 'Birthday'
    ->readRows(['C' => 'Birthday']); 

// read other arrays with custom column keys
// and in this case we define range by columns only
$columnKeys = ['B' => 'year', 'C' => 'value1', 'D' => 'value2'];
$result['#2'] = $excel
    ->selectSheet('Demo2', 'B:D')
    ->readRows($columnKeys);

$result['#3'] = $excel
    ->setReadArea('F5:H13')
    ->readRows($columnKeys);

You can set read area by defined names in workbook. For example if workbook has defined name Headers with range Demo1!$B$4:$D$4 then you can read cells by this name

$excel->setReadArea('Values');
$cells = $excel->readCells();

Note that since the value contains the sheet name, this sheet becomes the default sheet.

You can set read area in the sheet

$sheet = $excel->getSheet('Demo1')->setReadArea('Headers');
$cells = $sheet->readCells();

But if you try to use this name on another sheet, you will get an error

$sheet = $excel->getSheet('Demo2')->setReadArea('Headers');
// Exception: Wrong address or range "Values"

If necessary, you can fully control the reading process using the method readSheetCallback() with callback-function

use \avadim\FastExcelReader\Excel;

$excel = Excel::open($file);

$result = [];
$excel->readCallback(function ($row, $col, $val) use(&$result) {
    // Any manipulation here
    $result[$row][$col] = (string)$val;

    // if the function returns true then data reading is interrupted  
    return false;
});
var_dump($result);

Date Formatter

By default, all datetime values returns as timestamp. But you can change this behavior using dateFormatter()

$excel = Excel::open($file);
$sheet = $excel->sheet()->setReadArea('B5:D7');
$cells = $sheet->readCells();
echo $cells['C5']; // -2205187200

// If argument TRUE is passed, then all dates will be formatted as specified in cell styles
// IMPORTANT! The datetime format depends on the locale
$excel->dateFormatter(true);
$cells = $sheet->readCells();
echo $cells['C5']; // '14.02.1900'

// You can specify date format pattern
$excel->dateFormatter('Y-m-d');
$cells = $sheet->readCells();
echo $cells['C5']; // '1900-02-14'

// set date formatter function
$excel->dateFormatter(fn($value) => gmdate('m/d/Y', $value));
$cells = $sheet->readCells();
echo $cells['C5']; // '02/14/1900'

// returns DateTime instance
$excel->dateFormatter(fn($value) => (new \DateTime())->setTimestamp($value));
$cells = $sheet->readCells();
echo get_class($cells['C5']); // 'DateTime'

// custom manipulations with datetime values
$excel->dateFormatter(function($value, $format, $styleIdx) use($excel) {
    // get Excel format of the cell, e.g. '[$-F400]h:mm:ss\ AM/PM'
    $excelFormat = $excel->getFormatPattern($styleIdx);

    // get format converted for use in php functions date(), gmdate(), etc
    // for example the Excel pattern above would be converted to 'g:i:s A'
    $phpFormat = $excel->getDateFormatPattern($styleIdx);
    
    // and if you need you can get value of numFmtId for this cell
    $style = $excel->getCompleteStyleByIdx($styleIdx, true);
    $numFmtId = $style['format-num-id'];
    
    // do something and write to $result
    $result = gmdate($phpFormat, $value);

    return $result;
});

Sometimes, if a cell's format is specified as a date but does not contain a date, the library may misinterpret this value. To avoid this, you can disable date formatting

Here, cell B1 contains the string "3.2" and cell B2 contains the date 2024-02-03, but both cells are set to the date format

$excel = Excel::open($file);
// default mode
$cells = $sheet->readCells();
echo $cell['B1']; // -2208798720 - the library tries to interpret the number 3.2 as a timestamp
echo $cell['B2']; // 1706918400 - timestamp of 2024-02-03

// date formatter is on
$excel->dateFormatter(true);
$cells = $sheet->readCells();
echo $cell['B1']; // '03.01.1900'
echo $cell['B2']; // '3.2'

// date formatter is off
$excel->dateFormatter(false);
$cells = $sheet->readCells();
echo $cell['B1']; // '3.2'
echo $cell['B2']; // 1706918400 - timestamp of 2024-02-03

Images functions

// Returns count images on all sheets
$excel->countImages();

// Returns count images on sheet
$sheet->countImages();

// Returns image list of sheet
$sheet->getImageList();

// Returns image list of specified row
$sheet->getImageListByRow($rowNumber);

// Returns TRUE if the specified cell has an image
$sheet->hasImage($cellAddress);

// Returns mime type of image in the specified cell (or NULL)
$sheet->getImageMimeType($cellAddress);

// Returns inner name of image in the specified cell (or NULL)
$sheet->getImageName($cellAddress);

// Returns an image from the cell as a blob (if exists) or NULL
$sheet->getImageBlob($cellAddress);

// Writes an image from the cell to the specified filename
$sheet->saveImage($cellAddress, $fullFilenamePath);

// Writes an image from the cell to the specified directory
$sheet->saveImageTo($cellAddress, $fullDirectoryPath);

Cell value types

The library tries to determine the types of cell values, and in most cases it does it right. Therefore, you get numeric or string values. Date values are returned as a timestamp by default. But you can change this behavior by setting the date format (see the formatting options for the date() php function).

$excel = Excel::open($file);
$result = $excel->readCells();
print_r($result);

The above example will output:

Array
(
    [B2] => -2205187200
    [B3] => 6614697600
    [B4] => -6845212800
)

$excel = Excel::open($file);
$excel->setDateFormat('Y-m-d');
$result = $excel->readCells();
print_r($result);

The above example will output:

Array
(
    [B2] => '1900-02-14'
    [B3] => '2179-08-12'
    [B4] => '1753-01-31'
)

How to get complete info about the cell style

Usually read functions return just cell values, but you can read the values with styles. In this case, for each cell, not a scalar value will be returned, but an array like ['v' => scalar_value, 's' => style_array, 'f' => formula]

$excel = Excel::open($file);

$sheet = $excel->sheet();

$rows = $sheet->readRowsWithStyles();
$columns = $sheet->readColumnsWithStyles();
$cells = $sheet->readCellsWithStyles();

$cells = $sheet->readCellsWithStyles();

Or you can read styles only (without values)

$cells = $sheet->readCellStyles();
/*
array (
  'format' => 
  array (
    'format-num-id' => 0,
    'format-pattern' => 'General',
  ),
  'font' => 
  array (
    'font-size' => '10',
    'font-name' => 'Arial',
    'font-family' => '2',
    'font-charset' => '1',
  ),
  'fill' => 
  array (
    'fill-pattern' => 'solid',
    'fill-color' => '#9FC63C',
  ),
  'border' => 
  array (
    'border-left-style' => NULL,
    'border-right-style' => NULL,
    'border-top-style' => NULL,
    'border-bottom-style' => NULL,
    'border-diagonal-style' => NULL,
  ),
)
 */
$cells = $sheet->readCellStyles(true);
/*
array (
  'format-num-id' => 0,
  'format-pattern' => 'General',
  'font-size' => '10',
  'font-name' => 'Arial',
  'font-family' => '2',
  'font-charset' => '1',
  'fill-pattern' => 'solid',
  'fill-color' => '#9FC63C',
  'border-left-style' => NULL,
  'border-right-style' => NULL,
  'border-top-style' => NULL,
  'border-bottom-style' => NULL,
  'border-diagonal-style' => NULL,
)
 */

But we do not recommend using these methods with large files

Retrieve data validation rules

Every sheet in your XLSX file can contain a set of data validation rules. To retrieve them, you can imply call getDataValidations on your sheet

$excel = Excel::open($file);

$sheet = $excel->sheet();

$validations = $sheet->getDataValidations();
/*
[
  [
    'type' => 'list',
    'sqref' => 'E2:E527',
    'formula1' => '"Berlin,Cape Town,Mexico City,Moscow,Sydney,Tokyo"',
    'formula2' => null, 
  ], [
    'type' => 'decimal',
    'sqref' => 'G2:G527',
    'formula1' => '0.0',
    'formula2' => '999999.0',
  ],
]
*/

Column Widths

Retrieve the width of a specific column in a sheet:

$excel = Excel::open($file);
$sheet = $excel->selectSheet('SheetName');

// Get the width of column 1 (column 'A')
$columnWidth = $sheet->getColumnWidth(1);

echo $columnWidth; // Example: 11.85

Row Heights

Retrieve the height of a specific row in a sheet:

$excel = Excel::open($file);
$sheet = $excel->selectSheet('SheetName');

// Get the height of row 1
$rowHeight = $sheet->getRowHeight(1);

echo $rowHeight; // Example: 15

Freeze Pane Info

Retrieve the freeze pane info for a sheet:

$excel = Excel::open($file);
$sheet = $excel->selectSheet('SheetName');

// Get the freeze pane configuration
$freezePaneConfig = $sheet->getFreezePaneInfo();

print_r($freezePaneConfig);
/*
Example Output:
Array
(
    [xSplit] => 0
    [ySplit] => 1
    [topLeftCell] => 'A2'
)
*/

Tab Color Info

Retrieve the tab color info for a sheet:

Copy code
$excel = Excel::open($file);
$sheet = $excel->selectSheet('SheetName');

// Get the tab color configuration
$tabColorConfig = $sheet->getTabColorInfo();

print_r($tabColorConfig);
/*
Example Output:
Array
(
    [theme] => '2'
    [tint] => '-0.499984740745262'
)
*/

Info about merged cells

You can use the following methods:

• Sheet::getMergedCells() -- Returns all merged ranges
• Sheet::isMerged(string $cellAddress) -- Checks if a cell is merged
• Sheet::mergedRange(string $cellAddress) -- Returns merge range of specified cell

For example

if ($sheet->isMerged('B3')) {
    $range = $sheet->mergedRange('B3');
}

Count rows and columns

Each sheet contains the dimension property with the range of the area in which the data is written. If only one cell is filled on the sheet, then there should be an address of only this cell of the form "B2", otherwise it is a range of the form "B2:E10".

There are several methods that get data from this property:

• dimension() -- Returns dimension of default work area from sheet properties
• countRows() -- Count rows from dimension
• countColumns() -- Count columns from dimension
• minRow() -- The minimal row number from sheet properties
• maxRows() -- The maximal row number from sheet properties
• minColumn() -- The minimal column letter from sheet properties
• maxColumn() -- The maximal column letter from sheet properties

But sometimes the dimension property contains incorrect information. For example, it may contain the address of only the first cell of the data range or the address of only the last cell. In such cases, you can use methods that scan the entire sheet and count the actual number of rows and columns with data on the sheet.

IMPORTANT: these methods are slower than methods using the dimension property

• actualDimension() -- Returns dimension of the actual work area
• countActualRows() -- Count actual rows from the sheet
• minActualRow() -- The minimal actual row number
• maxActualRow() -- The maximal actual row number
• countActualColumns() -- Count actual columns from the sheet
• minActualColumn() -- The minimal actual column letter
• maxActualColumn() -- The maximal actual column letter

Some useful methods

Excel object

• getSheetNames() -- Returns names array of all sheets
• sheet(?string $name = null) -- Returns default or specified sheet
• getSheet(string $name, ?string $areaRange = null, ?bool $firstRowKeys = false) -- Get sheet by name
• getSheetById(int $sheetId, ?string $areaRange = null, ?bool $firstRowKeys = false) -- Get sheet by id
• getFirstSheet(?string $areaRange = null, ?bool $firstRowKeys = false) -- Get the first sheet
• selectSheet(string $name, ?string $areaRange = null, ?bool $firstRowKeys = false) -- Select default sheet by name and returns it
• selectSheetById(int $sheetId, ?string $areaRange = null, ?bool $firstRowKeys = false) -- Select default sheet by id and returns it
• selectFirstSheet(?string $areaRange = null, ?bool $firstRowKeys = false) -- Select the first sheet as default and returns it
• getDefinedNames() -- Returns defined names of workbook

Sheet object

• name() -- Returns name of string
• isActive() -- Active worksheet
• isHidden() -- If worksheet is hidden
• isVisible() -- If worksheet is visible
• state() -- Returns string state of worksheet (used in isHidden() and isVisible())
• maxColumn() -- The maximal column letter from sheet properties
• firstRow() -- The actual number of the first row from the sheet data area (may not match the value from minRow())
• firstCol() -- The actual letter of the first column from the sheet data area (may not match the value from minColumn())
• readFirstRow() -- Returns values of cells of 1st row as array
• readFirstRowWithStyles() -- Returns values and styles of cells of 1st row as array
• getColumnWidth(int) -- Returns the width of a given column number
• getFreezePaneConfig() -- Returns an array containing freeze pane configuration
• getTabColorConfiguration() -- Returns an array containing tab color configuration

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