How to Use write.xlsx in R (With Examples)

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You can use the write.xlsx function in R to write a data frame to an Excel workbook.

This function uses the following basic syntax:

write.xlsx(x, file, sheetName = "Sheet1", ...)

where:

• x: Name of data frame
• file: path to output file
• sheetName: Sheet name to appear in workbook. Default is “Sheet1”

The following step-by-step example shows how to use the write.xlsx function in practice.

Step 1: Install & Load xlsx Package

First, we must install and load the xlsx package in order to use the write.xlsx function:

install.packages('xlsx')     
library(xlsx)        

Step 2: Create the Data Frame

Next, let’s create the following data frame in R:

#create data frame
df frame(team=c('A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E'),
                 points=c(99, 90, 86, 88, 95),
                 assists=c(33, 28, 31, 39, 34),
                 rebounds=c(30, 28, 24, 24, 28))	

#view data frame
df

  team points assists rebounds
1    A     99      33       30
2    B     90      28       28
3    C     86      31       24
4    D     88      39       24
5    E     95      34       28

Step 3: Use write.xlsx to Export Data Frame to Excel File

Next, let’s use write.xlsx() to write the data frame to a file called my_data.xlsx:

#write data frame to Excel file
write.xlsx(df, 'my_data.xlsx')

The file will automatically be written into the current working directory.

If I navigate to the current working directory, I can find this Excel file:

The values in the Excel workbook match those from the data frame.

Step 4 (Optional): Use write.xlsx with Custom Arguments

Note that you can also use the following syntax to change the sheet name in the Excel workbook and suppress the row names:

#write data frame to Excel file
write.xlsx(df, 'my_data.xlsx', sheetName = 'basketball_data', row.names=FALSE)

If I navigate to the current working directory, I can find this Excel file:

Notice that the sheet name has changed and the first column no longer contains the row numbers.

Additional Resources

The following tutorials explain how to export other types of files in R:

How to Export Data Frame to a CSV File in R
How to Export Data Frames to Multiple Excel Sheets in R