Key Skills > Sample Data

Excel Sample Data

This page has Microsoft Excel sample datasets that you can download, to use for testing, Excel training and demos, and other learning activities. There is a table with office supply sales sample data, to copy and paste into your Excel workbook. Or download one of the many sample data files in Excel format. There are dataset examples for property insurance data, food sales records, work orders, workplace safety, athletes, and other Excel datasets.

Note: You many not resell this sample data, in whole or in part, or include it in paid products.

Why Use Sample Data in Excel?

This page has Microsoft Excel sample datasets that you can use for testing, Excel training and demos, and other learning activities. The sample file contents are described in the sections below, so you can decide which dataset will be the best match for what you need.

You can see a screen shot of each dataset, and a list of the columns it contains, with a brief description. Then, to get started, you can download sample Excel file with data for your training sessions.

Why do people download my sample data workbooks, to use in Excel?

Here are a few of the reasons that people have shared with me, as to why they like using these datasets, with dummy data for Excel:

Quick way to get interesting data for Excel training class exercises
No privacy concerns about using real data from your employer or your client's company
Useful for testing macros and manual processes - you might discover problems that didn't occur with original test data
Handy data to share when helping with Excel forum questions.
- Send people to this page, so they can download the sample data, and recreate their problem or error there.
- It's easier to help with troubleshooting when you both have the same data
Easy to prepare class demos for sum and count formulas, lookup functions, pivot tables, summary reports, and other Excel skills training
- Tip: Check the Key Excel Skills page, for training topic ideas.

Sample Data - Office Supply Sales

The first set of sample data on this page is sales data for an imaginary office supply company, and each row represents one sales order. There are formulas in one column - Total.

Each row in the Excel dummy data shows the following fields:

OrderDate: first column shows when the order was placed,
Region: geographical area in which the sale was made
Rep: sales representative's name
Item: name of the item sold
Units: number of units sold
UnitCost: cost of one unit
Total: total cost of the order - Units x UnitCost

To get this sample data:

-- Copy and paste the data from the Office Supply Sales Table, further down on this page

-- OR, get the sample data in an Excel file, in the download section at the bottom of this page

insurance sample data for testing

Sample Data - Insurance Policies

This sample file has fake commercial property insurance policy data.

There are 10 columns of data, with no calculations.
There are 500 rows of data in the insurance policy table.
Names in the header row are one word, with no spaces
Data is in named Excel table, with data filters in heading row

Each row shows the following fields:

Policy: Policy number, entered as text
Expiry: date that policy expires
Location: location type - Urban or Rural
State: name of state where property is located
Region: geographic region where property is located
InsuredValue: property value
Construction: Construction type of insured property, e.g. frame or masonry
BusinessType: Business use type for property, e.g. farming or retail
Earth: Is earthquake coverage included? Y or N
Flood: Is flood coverage included? Y or N

Insurance Policies: Click here to get the insurance policy data file. The zipped Excel file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

Note: This screen shot shows the first 6 columns in the Insurance Policy dataset table. There are 4 additional columns in the dataset, as described above.

insurance sample data for testing

Sample Data - Food Sales

This sample file has food sales data, from an imaginary food company.

There are 8 columns of data, including 1 column with a calculation.
There are 244 rows of data in the food sales table.

Each row shows the following fields:

OrderDate: Date the order was placed
Region: geographic region where order will be shipped
City: city where order will be shipped
Category: product category - Bars, Cookies, Crackers or Snacks
Product: product name
Quantity: number of units ordered
UnitPrice: product selling price per unit
TotalPrice: total price of order - calculation - Quantity x UnitPrice

Food Sales: Click here to get the food sales data file. The zipped Excel file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

Note: This screen shot shows the first 5 columns in the Food Sales dataset table. There are 3 additional columns in the dataset, as described above.

Sample Data - Workplace Safety

This sample file has fake workplace safety report data.

There are 14 columns of data, including 3 columns with a calculation.
There are 514 rows of data in the workplace safety report table.

Each row shows the following fields:

Date: Date of safety incident
Injury Location: location on body where injury occurred
Gender: employee gender
Age Group: employee age group (18-24, 25-34, 35-49, 50+)
Incident Type: Type of safety incident, e.g. Burn, Fall, Vehicle
Days Lost: number of days employee off work
Plant: manufacturing location were incident occurred
Report Type: Type of safety report filed - First Aid, Lost Time, Medical Claim, Near Miss
Shift: work shift when incident occurred - Afternoon, Day, Night
Department: work department where incident occurred
Incident Cost: total cost of safety incident
WkDay: 3-letter code for day of the week (calculation, based on Date)
Month: month number (calculation, based on Date)
Year: year number (calculation, based on Date)

Workplace Safety: Click here to get the workplace safety data file. The zipped Excel file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

Note: This screen shot shows the first 6 columns in the Workplace Safety dataset table. There are 8 additional columns in the dataset, as described above.

workplace safety sample data for testing

Sample Data - Work Orders

This sample file has work orders data for an imaginary service company.

There are 22 columns of data, including 9 columns with a calculation.
There are 1000 rows of data in the work orders table.

Each row shows these 13 manual entry fields:

WO: unique work order ID
District: geographic area where work will be done
LeadTech: head technician at the work location
Service: type of work to be done - Assess, Deliver, Install, Repair, Replace
Rush: is this a rush job? Yes or blank
ReqDate: date the work order was entered in system
WokDate: date the work was completed
Techs: number of technicians required
WtyLbr: is labor under warranty? Yes or blank
WtyParts: are parts under warranty? Yes or blank
LbrHrs: for completed work orders - number of hours labour
PartsCost: cost of parts required to complete the work
Payment: type of payment customer will use - Account, C.O.D, Credit, P.O., Warranty

Each row shows these 9 calculated fields:

Wait: WorkDate - ReqDate
LbrRate: hourly rate lookup, based on number of technicians
LbrCost: LbrRate x LbrHrs
LbrFee: labor cost, if not under warranty
PartsFee: parts cost, if not under warranty
TotalCost: LbrCost + PartsCost
TotalFee: LbrFee +PartsFee
ReqDay: 3-letter weekday name, based on ReqDate
WorkDay: 3-letter weekday name, based on WorkDate

Work Orders: Click here to get the work orders data file. The zipped Excel file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

Note: This screen shot shows the first 8 columns in the Work Orders dataset table. There are 14 additional columns in the dataset, as described above.

work order sample data for testing

Sample Data - Hockey Players

This sample file has data from the 2018 Olympic Hockey teams, from Canada and the USA.

There are 15 columns of data, including 4 columns with calculations.
There are 96 rows of data in the hockey player table.

Each row shows these 11 manual entry fields:

ID: unique ID number for player
Team: type of hockey team - Men, Women
Country: country of hockey team - Canada, USA
NameF: player's first name (given name)
NameL: player's last name (family name)
Weight: player weight in pounds
Height: player height in feet and inches
DOB: player date of birth
Hometown: player's hometown city
Prov: player's hometown province
Pos: player's position on hockey team

Each row shows these 4 calculated fields:

Age: player's age in years, based on date of birth
HeightFt: player's height converted to feet, with 2 decimal places shown
HtIn: player's height converted to inches (HeightFt x 12)
BMI: player's BMI based on Weight and HtIn

Hockey - Data Only: Click here to get the hockey player data file, with the data only. The zipped Excel file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

NOTE: Also see the Hockey Player analysis file, in the section below.

Note: This screen shot shows the first 5 columns in the Hockey Player dataset table. There are 10 additional columns in the dataset, as described above.

hockey sample data for testing

Sample Data - Hockey Player Analysis

This sample file has the same data as the file above -- 2018 Olympic Hockey teams, from Canada and the USA. In addition to the data, this file includes the pivot tables that I showed in my blog post on hockey player data analysis.

For example, one pivot table shows player counts, for each position, plus age, height and weight.

For each value, there are 3 different pivot table summary functions – Average, Minimum, and Maximum.
In the country subtotal row, conditional formatting highlights higher amounts in red, and lower amounts in green.
A Slicer at the top left lets you see the data for Men's or Women's hockey teams

Hockey - Data Analysis: Click here to get the hockey data file, with pivot tables and pivot charts, analyzing the data. The zipped Excel file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

hockey sample data pivot table analysis

Create a Pivot Table

Watch this video, to see the steps for creating a pivot table in Excel 2013 and later. There are written instructions. For detailed steps, go to the Create a Pivot Table in Excel page.

Sample Data - Winter Athletes

This sample Excel spreadsheet file has athlete data from the 2010 Winter Olympics, in Vancouver Canada.

There are 6 columns of data, with no calculations in the table.
There are 2606 rows of data in the athletes table.

Each row shows these 6 manual entry fields, with information about the Olympic participants:

Name: athlete's full name - LAST First
Sport: sport(s) athlete will participate in
Nationality: country athlete competes for
Age: athlete's age in years
Wt kg: athlete's weight in kilograms
Ht: athlete's height in centimetres

Winter Athletes: Click here to get the winter athletes data file. The zipped Excel file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

Note: This screen shot shows all 6 columns in the Winter Athletes dataset table.

hockey sample data for testing

Sample Data - Football Players

This sample file has data for professional football players in the USA, for two teams, in two different years - 2010 and 2022.

In January 2010, I watched a playoff game between the New Orleans Saints and the Arizona Cardinals. It was interesting that the players' numbers closely correlated with their physical size. So, I found the player rosters online, and got that data into Excel, for analysis. You can read about it in my Contextures blog post, and see the game summary on the ESPN website.

Now I've added data for the 2022 team rosters, so you can compare years, teams, and/or player types!

Player heights were entered as text values, in feet-inches, e.g. 6-1. In Excel, I used formulas to convert those text values to real numbers.
Full names were listed, so I used formulas in two columns, to calculate each player's first and last name
For 2022 players, I used team rosters as of Aug 5, 2022
- New Orleans team roster and Arizona team roster

In the Excel workbook, there is a player table with:

There are 16 columns of data, including 6 columns with a calculation.
There are 306 rows of data in the players table.

Each row shows these 10 manual entry fields:

Year: Roster Year
Team: Team city name
Name: Player's full name
No.: Player number, worn on jersey
Pos: Player's position code , e.g. QB (Quarterback)
Ht: Player's height in text, feet-inches, e.g. 5-10
Wt: Player's weight in pounds
Age: Player's age in years
Exp: Player's years of experience (or R for rookie)
College: Name of college that player attended

Each row shows the following 6 calculated fields:

FirstName: Player's first (given) name
LastName: Player's last (family) name
Ft: Number of feet in player's text height
In: Number of inches in player's text height
Inches: Player's height in total inches
NumGrp: Number group for player's jersey number (groups of 10)

Football Players: Click here to get the Football Player data file. The zipped Excel file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

Note: This screen shot shows the first 9 columns in the Football Player dataset table. There are 7 additional columns in the dataset, as described above.

football player sample data for testing

Sample Data - Food Nutrients

This sample Excel spreadsheet file has food nutrition data, based on data found in a Health Canada information booklet.

There are 8 columns of data, with no calculations in the table.
There are 1094 rows of data in the Food Nutrients table.

Each row shows these 8 manual entry fields, with information about the Olympic participants:

Category: main food category that food item belongs to
Food Item: name of food item, and brief description of size
Measure: serving measurement, such as fraction of whole item, or metric quantity
Calories: calories based on serving size
Protein: grams of protein in serving size
Fat: grams of total fat in serving size
Carbs: grams of carbohydrate in serving size
Fibre: grams of fibre in serving size

Suggested Use

Use this data to demonstrate lookup formulas, such as VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, INDEX and MATCH. Also, show how to create dependent drop down lists, for categry and food item. See the Excel Daily Calorie Counter page for an example.

Get Food Nutrients Data File

Food Nutrients: Click here to get the food nutrients data file. The zipped Excel file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

Note: This screen shot shows all 8 columns in the Food Nutrients dataset table.

food nutrition data

Office Supply Sales Table

For your convenience, here are the quick steps to copy the data from the table below, and paste into your Excel worksheet:

Click at the end of the text heading above the table
Scroll down to the end of the sample data table
Press Shift, and click at the end of the last number in the table, to select all the data
On the keyboard, press Ctrl + C to copy the data
Paste it into an Excel workbook (Ctrl+V), for use in your own tests.

Download: You can also get the sample office supply sales data in an Excel file -- click this link: Office Supply Sales sample data workbook. The zipped file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

Sample Data

OrderDate	Region	Rep	Item	Units	UnitCost	Total
1/6/2020	East	Jones	Pencil	95	1.99	189.05
1/23/2020	Central	Kivell	Binder	50	19.99	999.50
2/9/2020	Central	Jardine	Pencil	36	4.99	179.64
2/26/2020	Central	Gill	Pen	27	19.99	539.73
3/15/2020	West	Sorvino	Pencil	56	2.99	167.44
4/1/2020	East	Jones	Binder	60	4.99	299.40
4/18/2020	Central	Andrews	Pencil	75	1.99	149.25
5/5/2020	Central	Jardine	Pencil	90	4.99	449.10
5/22/2020	West	Thompson	Pencil	32	1.99	63.68
6/8/2020	East	Jones	Binder	60	8.99	539.40
6/25/2020	Central	Morgan	Pencil	90	4.99	449.10
7/12/2020	East	Howard	Binder	29	1.99	57.71
7/29/2020	East	Parent	Binder	81	19.99	1,619.19
8/15/2020	East	Jones	Pencil	35	4.99	174.65
9/1/2020	Central	Smith	Desk	2	125.00	250.00
9/18/2020	East	Jones	Pen Set	16	15.99	255.84
10/5/2020	Central	Morgan	Binder	28	8.99	251.72
10/22/2020	East	Jones	Pen	64	8.99	575.36
11/8/2020	East	Parent	Pen	15	19.99	299.85
11/25/2020	Central	Kivell	Pen Set	96	4.99	479.04
12/12/2020	Central	Smith	Pencil	67	1.29	86.43
12/29/2020	East	Parent	Pen Set	74	15.99	1,183.26
1/15/2021	Central	Gill	Binder	46	8.99	413.54
2/1/2021	Central	Smith	Binder	87	15.00	1,305.00
2/18/2021	East	Jones	Binder	4	4.99	19.96
3/7/2021	West	Sorvino	Binder	7	19.99	139.93
3/24/2021	Central	Jardine	Pen Set	50	4.99	249.50
4/10/2021	Central	Andrews	Pencil	66	1.99	131.34
4/27/2021	East	Howard	Pen	96	4.99	479.04
5/14/2021	Central	Gill	Pencil	53	1.29	68.37
5/31/2021	Central	Gill	Binder	80	8.99	719.20
6/17/2021	Central	Kivell	Desk	5	125.00	625.00
7/4/2021	East	Jones	Pen Set	62	4.99	309.38
7/21/2021	Central	Morgan	Pen Set	55	12.49	686.95
8/7/2021	Central	Kivell	Pen Set	42	23.95	1,005.90
8/24/2021	West	Sorvino	Desk	3	275.00	825.00
9/10/2021	Central	Gill	Pencil	7	1.29	9.03
9/27/2021	West	Sorvino	Pen	76	1.99	151.24
10/14/2021	West	Thompson	Binder	57	19.99	1,139.43
10/31/2021	Central	Andrews	Pencil	14	1.29	18.06
11/17/2021	Central	Jardine	Binder	11	4.99	54.89
12/4/2021	Central	Jardine	Binder	94	19.99	1,879.06
12/21/2021	Central	Andrews	Binder	28	4.99	139.72

Create an Excel Table

After you copy the Office Supply Sales sample data from the table above, and paste it into Excel, you can format the data as a named Excel table. This will make it easier to sort and filter the data.

Watch this short video to see the steps, and there are written instructions on the Creating an Excel Table page.

Download the Sample Data

Office Supply Sales: To get the sample office supply sales data in an Excel file, click this link: Office Supply Sales sample data workbook. The zipped file is in xlsx format, and does not contain any macros.

Note: The other sample file download links are in the dataset sections, above. Check each section for its sample file download link.

Related Links

Here are a few of my Contextures tutorials on working with data in Excel, organizing it in tables, and summarizing the data in pivot tables.

-- Excel Tables

-- Pivot Tables

-- Data Entry Tips

Excel Training

For video-based lessons on working with Excel data, I recommend these highly-rated courses, offered by Mynda Treacy, at her website, My Online Training Hub.

-- Excel Power Query Course

-- Excel Power Pivot Course

-- Excel Dashboard Course

-- Excel Expert Course

NOTE: These are affiliate links, and I will earn a small commission if you purchase a product through these links.

Excel sample data for testing

Why Use Sample Data in Excel?

Sample Data - Office Supply Sales

Sample Data - Office Supply Sales Table

Sample Data - Insurance Policies

Sample Data - Food Sales

Sample Data - Workplace Safety

Sample Data - Work Orders

Sample Data - Hockey Players

Sample Data - Hockey Player Analysis

Sample Data - Winter Athletes

Sample Data - Food Nutrients

Create an Excel Table

Download the Sample Data

More Sample Files

Last updated: August 8, 2022 11:31 AM