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Session Id : 1z6ldwIl+dxdeN/y/icS2S
Power Automate - Power Automate Desktop
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Very Slow Read from Excel speeds - Filter?

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Posted on 27 Jun 2024 17:53:01 by 10

Hi there, I have a Power Automate Desktop flow which reads data from an Excel worksheet, but having reached about 800 rows PAD is taking minutes to read the file and get the flow started.

Is there any way to speed this up? Would any sort of filter work? Is it possible to read a single row based on an unique ID without having to load the entire sheet?

Cheers.

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  • Riyaz_riz11 Profile Picture
    3,574 Super User 2025 Season 2 on 01 Jul 2024 at 06:23:24
    Re: Very Slow Read from Excel speeds - Filter?

    Hi @ncd ,

    Best approach will be excel as a database action.

    Here in this you can filter data based on required columns.

    Ahammad_Riyaz_0-1719814969557.png

    Connection String:Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=C:\Users\Riyaz\Downloads\MayFullFile.xlsx;Extended Properties="Excel 12.0 Xml;HDR=YES";

     

    If I have answered your question, please mark it as the preferred solution. If you like my response, please give it a Thumbs Up.

    Regards,
    Riyaz

  • AK88 Profile Picture
    453 on 01 Jul 2024 at 06:19:04
    Re: Very Slow Read from Excel speeds - Filter?

    Hi @ncd ,

    As mentioned by @Deenuji and @VishnuReddy1997 , kindly try to use excel as a DB , sharing the below link for to install Microsoft Access Database Engine. 

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=54920 

    Hope this would make your solution much more faster, as mentioned the performance is completely based on the system configuration, but try to run the flows from console window which would make your solution much more faster rather than debugging mode.

     

     

    If this resolves your query kindly mark it as solution and give kudos.

  • VishnuReddy1997 Profile Picture
    2,526 Super User 2025 Season 2 on 01 Jul 2024 at 04:48:01
    Re: Very Slow Read from Excel speeds - Filter?

    Hi @ncd ,

     

    You need to install Microsoft Access Database Engine to do that scenario.

    You can also try using VBscript option as shown in below .

     

    VishnuReddy1997_0-1719809210231.png

     

    Scripting.RunVBScript.RunVBScript VBScriptCode: $'''\' This code has been generated by AI. Original prompt:
    \' Vbscript to Read all theavailable data from Excel
    Set objExcel = CreateObject(\"Excel.Application\")
    Set objWorkbook = objExcel.Workbooks.Open(\"C:\\path\\to\\your\\excel\\file.xlsx\")
    
    \' Loop through each sheet in the workbook
    For Each objWorksheet In objWorkbook.Sheets
     WScript.Echo \"Sheet Name: \" & objWorksheet.Name
     WScript.Echo \"===============================\"
    
     \' Loop through each row in the sheet
     For i = 1 To objWorksheet.UsedRange.Rows.Count
     strRowValue = \"\"
     \' Loop through each column in the row
     For j = 1 To objWorksheet.UsedRange.Columns.Count
     strRowValue = strRowValue & objWorksheet.Cells(i, j).Value & \" \"
     Next
     \' Output the row value
     WScript.Echo strRowValue
     Next
     WScript.Echo \"\"
    Next
    
    objExcel.Quit''' ScriptOutput=> VBScriptOutput12 ScriptError=> ScriptError

     

    (Note:- if you got your solution you can mark as solution and gives kudos)


    Thanks & Regards

    Vishnu Reddy

     

  • ncd Profile Picture
    10 on 28 Jun 2024 at 13:36:36
    Re: Very Slow Read from Excel speeds - Filter?

    Thank you for the replies. That looks like it would indeed improve things, but unfortunately I cannot test the solution, as it seems that my company does not have the Microsoft Access Database Engine installed (would need administration rights to do so) and I get an error when trying to create the SQL connection (our Excel install is 32 bits).

    The 'Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0' provider is not registered on the local machine.



  • VishnuReddy1997 Profile Picture
    2,526 Super User 2025 Season 2 on 28 Jun 2024 at 04:56:43
    Re: Very Slow Read from Excel speeds - Filter?

    Hi @ncd ,

     

    As mentioned by @Deenuji it depends upon various factor. But by using excel as DB and filter those will increase the speed.

    Please try the below approach so it may increase the speed.

    VishnuReddy1997_0-1719550549109.png

     

    (Note:- if you got your solution you can mark as solution and gives kudos)


    Thanks & Regards

    Vishnu Reddy

  • Deenuji_Loganathan_ Profile Picture
    6,204 Super User 2025 Season 2 on 28 Jun 2024 at 02:13:58
    Re: Very Slow Read from Excel speeds - Filter?

    @ncd 

     

    The overall speed is completely dependent on our machine configuration, the storage location of your Excel file, and the version of Power Automate Desktop (PAD) you are using.

     

    I concur with your observation that the recent versions of Power Automate Desktop take additional time compared to previous ones. I am unsure if there is any workaround for this issue.

     

    Regarding the filter option, I don't believe it will be effective in your row filter scenario. You can apply filters to retrieve only a single column or multiple columns with certain rows, among other things. You may want to explore these options to see if they result in any improvement in overall performance.

     

    In case if you are opening excel file from OneDrive location then move into actual c drive some root folder and 

    see if they result in any improvement in overall performance.

     

     


    Thanks,
    Deenuji Loganathan 👩‍💻
    Automation Evangelist 🤖
    Follow me on LinkedIn 👥

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    If I've helped solve your query, kindly mark my response as the solution ✔ and give it a thumbs up!👍 Your feedback supports future seekers 🚀

     


    Thanks,
    Deenuji Loganathan 👩‍💻
    Automation Evangelist 🤖
    Follow me on LinkedIn 👥

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    If I've helped solve your query, kindly mark my response as the solution ✔ and give it a thumbs up!👍 Your feedback supports future seekers 🚀

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