Fix Pandas read_excel failing on .xlsx: Missing optional dependency openpyxl (ImportError) explained

ImportError: Missing optional dependency openpyxl in pandas read_excel on .xlsx? See why it occurs and fix it fast by installing openpyxl with pip today.

Reading Excel with pandas fails? Here's the real reason and the fix

You try to read an .xlsx file with pandas, the code looks perfectly fine, yet the run ends with a stack trace. The failure is reproducible and immediate. The key lies not in your DataFrame logic but in a missing piece that pandas expects at import time.

Minimal example

import pandas as p
xlsx_path = 'sales data.xlsx'
data_frame = p.read_excel(xlsx_path)
data_frame.head()

The error in context

The stack trace points to a missing dependency and explicitly names it. The crucial fragment reads:

ImportError: Missing optional dependency 'openpyxl'. Use pip or conda to install openpyxl.

Upstream in the trace you also see a ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'openpyxl'.

What is actually happening

pandas needs an engine to read the Excel file, and for .xlsx support it looks for openpyxl. If openpyxl isn’t installed in your environment, pandas surfaces an ImportError and aborts the read. The pandas documentation confirms the engine requirement; details are in the read_excel reference: pandas.read_excel.

The fix

Install the missing dependency. The error message allows using pip or conda; a direct and sufficient command is:

pip install openpyxl

After the installation completes, re-run the same code that calls read_excel. With openpyxl available, pandas will load the .xlsx file as intended.

Why this matters

Understanding that pandas relies on external engines for certain formats saves time during troubleshooting. When you see an ImportError tied to a specific optional dependency, the shortest path to resolution is to install exactly what the message requests. It also makes the behavior predictable across environments where the dependency may or may not be present.

Conclusion

If read_excel throws an ImportError naming openpyxl, the problem is not your DataFrame code or the .xlsx path; the environment is missing the required engine. Install openpyxl, verify the import, and proceed. Keep an eye on the exact wording of error messages and use the pandas docs when in doubt—the guidance there aligns directly with what the library expects.