Show RSS Feeds in Excel

Instead of using an RSS reader, you can show items from an RSS feed on an Excel worksheet. Get the free workbook with an example. Two methods are shown -- add an XML Map, or import the feed.

Method 1: Add XML Map to Show RSS Feed

Instead of using an RSS reader, you can show items from an RSS feed on an Excel worksheet. See the steps in this video tutorial. The written instructions are below the video.

Show RSS feed on a Worksheet

The first step is to find the link for the RSS feed that you want to show on the worksheet. In this example, we'll use the RSS feed for the Contextures blog.

1. Go to the Contextures blog, and look for an RSS icon, in the sidebar at the right.
2. Right-click on the RSS icon and click Copy Link Location

   

Next, you'll use that RSS link to create an XML map in a workbook.

1. In Excel, open the workbook where you want to create the RSS feed table
2. On the Ribbon's Developer tab, in the XML group, click Source.

   

3. In the XML Source task pane, click the XML Maps button

   

4. In the dialog box, click Add, to create a new XML map

   

5. Click in the File Name box, and press Ctrl + V, to paste the copied RSS link.

   

6. Click Open, and then click OK, if a message appears.

   

7. Click OK, to close the XML Map dialog box.
8. In the XML Source task pane, find the Item section, and click on the Item heading, to select it.

   

9. Drag the Item section heading to cell B3 on the worksheet.

   

10. This creates a table on the worksheet, with the headings from the Item section.

    

11. To see the list items, right-click on a cell below the headings, and click Refresh

    

Method 2: Import the RSS Feed

If you have a problem with creating a new XML map (method 1), you can follow the steps below, to import the RSS feed.

Get the RSS Feed Address

The first step is to find the link for the RSS feed that you want to show on the worksheet. In this example, we'll use the RSS feed for the Contextures blog.

1. Go to the Contextures blog, and look for an RSS icon, in the sidebar at the right.
2. Right-click on the RSS icon and click Copy Link Location

   

   The RSS feed address on my Contextures blog is: https://contexturesblog.com/feed/

Import the RSS Feed

Next, you'll import that RSS link in an Excel workbook.

1. In Excel, open the workbook where you want to create the RSS feed table
2. On the Ribbon's Developer tab, in the XML group, click Import.
3. In the window that opens, click in the File Name box, and press Ctrl + V, to paste the copied RSS link.

   

4. Click Open, and the Import Data window will open.

   

5. Optional - Click the Properties button and set the properties that you want
6. Select a location for the data, and click OK, to close the Import Data window.

Format the Imported Data

1. On the worksheet, click the Select All button, to the left of the Column A heading button, to select all the cells on the worksheet
2. On the Excel Ribbon, click the Home tab, then click the Wrap Text command twice, to turn off the Wrap Text setting.
3. Now you should be able to see the data in the table on the worksheet

See the XML Map

1. To see the XML Map that was automatically created, go back to the Developer tab, and click the Source button in the XML group.
2. The XML Source will appear in a pane on the Excel worksheet.
3. Click on an XML Source item that has bold text, and that item will be highlighted in the worksheet table.

   

Download the Sample File

To see the RSS feeds for the Contextures Blog and the Contextures website, please download the sample file: Excel RSS Feeds Sample File. This was created with Method 1 -- Add XML Map.

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