How to Get Currency Exchange Rates in Microsoft Excel

May 31, 2022

409

[ad_1]

If you use Microsoft Excel for financial data where exchange rates are part of what you need, see the Currencies data type. This gives you various trade details that you can include in your spreadsheet.

You can get the time of the last trade, the high and low, the percentage of change and more by entering a pair of ISO currency codes. Then simply select the details you want to include and update the details as needed.

Note: As of May 2022, the feature is only available to Microsoft 365 subscribers. You can use the feature in Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac, as well as Excel for the web.

Enter currency pairs

You will enter a pair of currencies using the ISO codes like: From Currency / To Currency. If you prefer, you can use a colon instead of a forward slash, but Excel will convert it to a forward slash when you apply the data type.

RELATED: How to convert currency in Microsoft Excel

So, to get the exchange rate and details from US dollars to euros, you would enter: USD/EUR. Or, for Australian dollars to US dollars, you would enter: AUD/USD.

Once you add the pairs you want to use, you’ll apply the data type and select the details to display.

Apply currency data type

Select the cell where you entered the currency pair. Go to the Data tab and choose “Currencies” in the Data Types box.

You’ll see your cell update to show the data type icon on the left, indicating that you’ve applied the Currencies type.

Note: If you see a question mark instead of the Currencies data type icon, that means Excel is having trouble matching the data you entered. Please double check the ISO codes for currency types or click the question mark for more help.

Select the exchange data

With the currency pair cell selected, click the Insert Data icon that appears to the right. You will see a list of information that you can select and insert into your sheet.

By default, the data you choose appears in the cell immediately to the right of the cell that contains the currency pair. As you select more details to add, each one is also displayed on the right.

Please note this precaution from Microsoft when obtaining currency exchange rates using this Excel feature:

Currency information is provided “as is” and may be delayed. Therefore, this data should not be used for commercial or advisory purposes.

Update exchange data

To have the most up-to-date details in your sheet, you can update the data as needed. For all items, go to the Data tab and click “Refresh All” in the Queries & Connections section of the ribbon.