How to Connect Excel to Snowflake

If you're reading this you probably already recognize Snowflake is a powerful cloud data warehouse, and often users want to connect it to Excel for analysis and reporting. We'll walk you through setting up the Excel connection, configuring ODBC drivers, managing credentials, and dealing with Excel’s row limitations.

Without further ado, let's walk through the step-by-step process to connect Excel to Snowflake using ODBC. And if you’re looking for a simpler, faster, more scalable way to analyze Snowflake data, without driver installations, replicating the data, or row limits, we’ll also take a look at how we can tackle this with Gigasheet.

Method 1: Connecting Excel to Snowflake via ODBC

Microsoft Excel does not have a built-in connector for Snowflake, so the standard method requires installing the Snowflake ODBC driver. ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) is a standard interface that allows applications like Excel to connect to databases, including Snowflake, using a driver. It enables users to retrieve and manipulate data by establishing a connection between the software and the database via configured credentials and queries. Just keep in mind that ODBC retrieves data into memory, meaning large datasets can slow performance or exceed application limits. Follow these steps to get started.

Step 1: Download and Install the Snowflake ODBC Driver

1. Go to the Snowflake ODBC Driver Downloads page.
2. Select the ODBC driver for your operating system.
3. Install the driver following the provided instructions. More details on ODBC drivers from Snowflake here.

Just remember when installing on Windows you'll need an administrator account or an account with elevated privileges. In this guide we're focusing on Windows, but you can follow essentially the same steps for Linux and Mac, but they'll be completed in the command line.

Step 2: Configure the ODBC Data Source

Once you’ve installed the Snowflake ODBC driver, the next step is setting it up as a data source so Excel can connect. To do this, you'll open the ODBC Data Sources dialog for your system and create a new Data Source Name (DSN). This DSN stores the connection details needed for the ODBC driver to work. You can choose between a User DSN (accessible only to you) or a System DSN (available to anyone on the workstation); either option works for this setup.

First, open the ODBC Data Source Administrator (Windows).

Next, click Add and select Snowflake ODBC Driver.

Enter the following details:

1. Data Source Name (DSN): Any unique identifier
2. Server: Your Snowflake account URL (e.g., xyz12345.snowflakecomputing.com)
3. Database & Warehouse: (Optional) Define the default Snowflake database and warehouse
4. Authentication: Use username/password or Single Sign-On (SSO)
5. Click Test to verify the connection.

Step 3: Connect to Snowflake from Excel

Excel has been a staple for self-service data analytics for years. It’s familiar, widely used by business analysts, and packed with built-in tools like Power Query to pull and transform data from various sources. That said, using Excel for analytics has its limitations, and it's certainly not ideal for working with big data, but assuming you have modest size data this approach will work fine. Let’s treat Excel as another tool in your data toolkit and walk through loading data from Snowflake. In this example, we’ll use the latest version of Excel in Microsoft 365.

1. Open Excel and start a new blank workbook.
2. Go to the Data tab in the menu bar.
3. Click Get Data → From Other Sources → From ODBC.

Excel will prompt you to select the Data Source Name (DSN) for your connection. Simply click the DSN drop-down, choose the one you set up earlier, and hit OK to proceed.

From here, you’ll be able to connect to your Snowflake data source and start working with your data in Excel.

Step 4: Query & Analyze Data

After clicking OK, the Excel Navigator dialog will appear, showing a list of database objects your account can access. To load a list of databases from Snowflake into Excel, navigate through the menu:

1. Expand SNOWFLAKE
2. Expand INFORMATION_SCHEMA
3. Select DATABASES

Excel will then display a preview of the table data in the Navigator pane, allowing you to review the dataset before importing it.

At this point, you can either load the data directly into your worksheet or transform it first using Power Query. Here we'll go ahead and click Load. After a (hopefully) brief connection process, Excel will retrieve the data from Snowflake and display it in a new worksheet, ready for analysis. Once the data is imported, you can create pivot tables, use formulas, and refresh the data as needed.

Important to note that Excel has limitations when working with Snowflake data:

• Row Limits – Excel struggles with large datasets, often requiring workarounds like filtering or sampling. (cough, Gigasheet has no limits)
• Performance Issues – Large queries can be slow or fail due to memory constraints. (psst...Gigasheet overcomes this)
• Static Data – The imported data is a snapshot; refreshing requires reloading from Snowflake. (ahem, Gigasheet queries the data live, no refreshing needed)

If you need real-time access, unlimited rows, and a simpler setup, there’s a better alternative: Gigasheet! ⭐

Method 2: A Faster, Scalable No-ODBC Alternative Using Gigasheet

Gigasheet Enterprise for Snowflake eliminates the need for ODBC drivers, manual exports, and row limits. It’s a cloud-based spreadsheet-like interface designed to connect directly to Snowflake and handle massive datasets with ease, and best of all it shows data from Snowflake in real-time. Gigasheet lets you easily filter, group, or pivot massive tables on Snowflake.

Why Use Gigasheet Instead of Excel?

✅ No ODBC Setup – Skip the driver installations and configurations.
✅ Live Querying – Pull data directly from Snowflake without exporting or copying.
✅ Handles Big Data – No row limits; analyze millions (or billions) of rows.
✅ SSO Integration – Securely access all your Snowflake tables with Single Sign-On.
✅ Easy Table Browsing – See all available tables in your Snowflake database before querying.

How to Connect Snowflake to Gigasheet

1. Sign up for a Gigasheet account. Get started for free.
2. Connect Snowflake using your credentials or SSO.
3. Browse & Query – Select the Snowflake tables you want to work with.
4. Analyze & Export – Analyze the data in a spreadsheet UI, export as needed.

Check out this short 2min video to see how it works:

Worried about data security? Rest easy - with our Live Query configuration none of your source data is stored outside of your warehouse.

Connecting Excel to Snowflake via ODBC works, but it comes with limitations in setup, performance, and scalability. If you need real-time analysis, easy access to all your tables, and support for massive datasets, Gigasheet is the better choice.

Try Gigasheet Today

Skip the ODBC setup and work with Snowflake data instantly. Get started for free.