Quillfold

Excel "From Web" can't see your table: causes and fixes

Published by Quillfold, which makes TableHarvest.

Excel can import a table straight from a web page: Data > From Web. When it works, it is the most convenient option, because the import is a query you can refresh later. When it doesn’t, the Navigator shows no tables, the wrong ones, or only the first page.

This guide starts with the steps for when it works, then goes through the reasons it doesn’t, using Microsoft’s own documentation. Every quotation below was read on 7 October 2026.

Which Excel has it

  • Excel for Windows (Microsoft 365, Office 2019, Office 2016): yes. Microsoft’s support article: “Go to the Data tab and click on From Web (or Get Data > From Other Sources > From Web)” (“Import data from the web using the web connector”, dated 2026-09-11).
  • Excel for Mac: Microsoft’s list of Power Query sources for Mac is “Excel Workbook, Text/CSV, XML, JSON, SQL Server Database, SharePoint Online List, OData, Blank Table, and Blank Query”. Web is not on it.
  • Excel for the web: the list is the same and Web is not on it (“Use Power Query in Excel for the Web”, dated 2026-08-14).

If you are on a Mac or in a browser, From Web is not an option as of October 2026; skip to “Other ways” at the end.

When it works: the steps

  1. Data > From Web, paste the page address, OK.
  2. Choose how to connect. For a public page, Anonymous.
  3. The Navigator lists the tables it found. Web View shows the page with each detected table highlighted, which is the easiest way to pick the right one.
  4. Select a table and choose Load, or Transform Data to clean it in Power Query first (promote headers, fill down, change types).
  5. Later, refreshing the query (Data > Refresh All) fetches the page again.

If the table you want is not in the list, Microsoft offers Add table using examples: you type a few values from the page and “Power Query extracts data that fits the pattern of example entries using smart data extraction algorithms” (“Get webpage data by providing examples”, updated 2026-08-15).

Why the table isn’t found

The page is built by scripts after it loads

Many pages send an empty frame first and fill in the table with JavaScript. Two documented facts matter here:

  • In Excel, the web connector uses an older function, Web.Page. Microsoft’s troubleshooting page shows Excel generating Web.Page while Power BI Desktop generates Web.BrowserContents, and says Web.Page is “built on Internet Explorer. Because of this requirement, it’s being replaced in the UI with Web.BrowserContents” (“Troubleshooting the Power Query Web connector”, updated 2025-12-01).
  • The same page warns: “Pages that load their content dynamically can sometimes be inconsistent since the content can change after the browser considers loading complete.” Web.BrowserContents has a WaitFor option for this; Microsoft documents it for that function, not for Web.Page.

Microsoft does not say directly whether Excel’s From Web runs the page’s scripts. You can check your page yourself:

  1. Open the page in the browser and press Ctrl+U (Windows) to view its source.
  2. Press Ctrl+F and search for a value you can see in the table.
  3. If the value is not in the source, the table is built after loading. If From Web shows nothing for that page, this is the likely reason.

The page needs you to sign in

Microsoft lists the sign-in methods per function. For Web.Page, the one Excel uses: Anonymous, Windows (current user’s credentials) and Web API. Website sign-in forms — a user name and password typed into the page, with the site remembering you by cookie — are not among them (“Troubleshooting the Power Query Web connector”).

If you can see the table only after signing in to the website, Microsoft’s documentation gives From Web no way to use that sign-in.

The table is spread over pages

From Web reads one address. Microsoft’s paging guidance is for developers of custom connectors (“Handling paging for Power Query connectors”, updated 2026-07-13), and its helper, Table.GenerateByPage, “can be copied into your extension file code” rather than being built in.

What you can do in the Excel interface: if each page has its own address (?page=2), import each one as a query and combine them with Append (“creates a single table by adding the contents of one or more tables to another”, “Append queries”, updated 2026-04-08). If page 2 has no address of its own, From Web cannot reach it. See When the next page isn’t captured.

The grid only draws the rows on screen

Large data grids keep only the visible rows in the page and swap them as you scroll. A tool that reads the page once gets those rows and no more. See Why rows go missing.

Merged cells and two-row headers

If the table imports but the headers are wrong or there are blanks under merged cells, Power Query’s Use First Row as Headers and Fill Down usually fix it. See Merged cells and “Column 1” headers.

Other ways

SituationWhat to use
Public page, table in the source, you want to refresh it laterFrom Web (Windows). Nothing else refreshes as easily.
Mac or Excel for the webGoogle Sheets’ IMPORTHTML for public pages, or copy and paste, or a browser extension.
Table built by scripts, behind a sign-in, or spread over pages without their own addressesA browser extension, which reads the page you have open and are signed in to.
The site has its own CSV or Excel downloadUse it. It is the most reliable.

TableHarvest, our extension, is one such option. It reads the tab you have open, so it sees what you see, including pages you are signed in to and tables built by scripts. It follows pages, checks the row count against the total on the page, and downloads XLSX. It does not refresh: each capture is a snapshot. If you need a table that updates itself and From Web can read it, From Web is the better choice.

Sources

Read on 7 October 2026.

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