---
title: "Convert Excel to SQLite"
description: "Convert Excel files to SQL for SQLite in your browser: a CREATE TABLE with typed columns, then INSERT statements. Free, and your file is never uploaded."
canonical: https://intosql.com/excel-to-sqlite
last_updated: 2026-10-15
---

# Convert Excel to SQLite

Drop your Excel file to get a SQLite script with CREATE TABLE and INSERT statements. Each column gets a type, and every fix is listed with its row and column.

## From Excel to SQLite, column by column

The sample above, clientes_2024.xlsx, as IntoSQL writes it for SQLite: what each column holds in the file, the type it gets and how its first value lands in the script.

| In the file | First value | Column | SQLite type | In the script |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Nº Cliente | `00127` | `no_cliente` | `TEXT` | `'00127'` |
| Nombre | `Peña Muñoz` | `nombre` | `TEXT` | `'Peña Muñoz'` |
| C.P. | `01234` | `c_p` | `TEXT` | `'01234'` |
| Alta | `03/02/2024` | `alta` | `DATE` | `'2024-02-03'` |
| Activo | `sí` | `activo` | `BOOLEAN` | `1` |
| Saldo | `1.234,50` | `saldo` | `NUMERIC(6,2)` | `1234.50` |

## Load the script into SQLite

The download is a plain .sql file. Run it with SQLite's own tools.

### SQLite

```shell
sqlite3 clientes_2024.db < clientes_2024.sqlite.sql
```

The database file is created if it doesn't exist. The converter also downloads a ready .sqlite database, with no command at all. In DB Browser for SQLite, choose Execute SQL, open the script and run it.

Without a script:

```shell
intosql load clientes_2024.xlsx --into clientes_2024.db
```

## What IntoSQL reads in Excel files

- The header row is found even when titles or notes sit above it, and a totals row at the end is left out.
- Dates stored as Excel serial numbers become real dates, in both the 1900 and the 1904 date systems.
- Codes with leading zeros, like 00127, stay text. When a workbook has several sheets, you pick the sheet.

## What to know about SQLite

- Each column gets the type its values need, like INTEGER, NUMERIC, TEXT, DATE or BOOLEAN; yes and no are stored as 1 and 0.
- Decimals with more than 15 digits stay TEXT, so no digit is rounded away.
- Download the SQLite script, or a ready .sqlite database built in your browser.

### How each kind of value is stored in SQLite

| Value | SQLite |
| --- | --- |
| Yes and no | `BOOLEAN` |
| Whole numbers | `INTEGER` |
| Large whole numbers | `INTEGER` |
| Decimals | `NUMERIC(p,s) · TEXT` |
| Floating-point numbers | `REAL` |
| Dates | `DATE` |
| Times of day | `TIME` |
| Dates with a time | `DATETIME` |
| Dates with a time and offset | `DATETIME` |
| Text | `TEXT` |

## Questions about Excel to SQLite

### How do I convert Excel to SQLite?

Drop your file on the converter at the top of this page. It finds the header, reads every value and writes the SQLite script, listing each fix it made. Download the script and run it with sqlite3.

### Which sheet of the workbook is converted?

The first visible sheet. When a workbook has more than one, a Sheet option appears, so you can pick another.

### Which SQLite types does it use?

Yes and no values become BOOLEAN, whole numbers INTEGER, decimals NUMERIC(p,s), dates DATE, dates with a time DATETIME and text TEXT. Sizes come from the longest value in each column.

### Does it keep leading zeros in SQLite?

Yes. A code such as 00127 stays text, so SQLite stores it as TEXT and the script writes it as '00127'.

### Can it load the data into SQLite without a script?

Yes, for free: intosql load creates the SQLite database file and loads the rows in. The converter on this page also downloads a ready .sqlite database.

### How big can the Excel file be?

In the browser, a workbook is read whole, so the limit is the memory the browser gives this page. The desktop app and the command line take workbooks of any size; on an Apple M4 laptop the command line converts a 117 MB workbook of a million rows in about a second.

## Excel into other databases

- [Convert Excel to SQL](https://intosql.com/excel-to-sql)
- [Convert Excel to PostgreSQL](https://intosql.com/excel-to-postgresql)
- [Convert Excel to MySQL](https://intosql.com/excel-to-mysql)
- [Convert Excel to MariaDB](https://intosql.com/excel-to-mariadb)
- [Convert Excel to SQL Server](https://intosql.com/excel-to-sql-server)
- [Convert Excel to Oracle](https://intosql.com/excel-to-oracle)

## Other files into SQLite

- [Convert CSV to SQLite](https://intosql.com/csv-to-sqlite)
- [Convert JSON to SQLite](https://intosql.com/json-to-sqlite)