I'm in the process of migrating several legacy Excel-based reporting workflows to Alteryx, and I’ve encountered a recurring issue that I’d like to validate and find potential workarounds or solutions for.
I have around 80 Excel files, many of which were created and modified over time by different users. These files:
Use named tables (created through Table Design in Excel),
Are structured to expand dynamically (headers, rows, and even newly added columns),
Work perfectly when loaded via Power Query (Excel/Power BI),
But are not detected by the Alteryx Input Data tool, which only shows Sheet1, without exposing the named table or even a reliable named range.
🔍 What I've validated:
Files are saved as .xlsx
Tables are properly named (e.g. ChopShop)
Excel is fully closed when connecting
File permissions and integrity are fine
Power Query reads them without issue
Alteryx only displays Sheet1 as input option
🔧 Why this is critical:
Manually switching to static ranges (e.g. A1:Z1000) is not a reliable solution for me:
These files have been edited inconsistently over years, with invalid named ranges, extra rows at the bottom, and sometimes corrupted formatting.
Rebuilding these 80+ files to match a fixed layout would consume significant time.
Additionally, the files are stored on a network drive (not local, not Ethernet-connected), which introduces latency and risk when editing or restructuring directly from Excel.
💬 My questions:
Is Alteryx expected to support input from Excel tables (not just named ranges)?
Is there a known workaround (besides writing a macro to export to sheets)?
Would Alteryx recommend restructuring all files manually, or is there a more scalable method?
📌 I’m trying to preserve the data integrity and structure flexibility that Excel tables provide, while automating ETL in Alteryx.
Thanks in advance for any guidance or shared experience. This is a critical blocker in our migration.
– Jorge Arguelles
(DBS Mexico – Reporting)
