Laravel 12: Seeding Data Using Excel Import with PHPSpreadsheet

This method is intended for developers who want to seed their Laravel database using Excel files — not for end-user Excel uploads.

🧰 Prerequisites

Before we dive into the code, make sure you have:

• Laravel 12 installed
• Composer
• A MySQL (or compatible) database connected

Basic knowledge of Laravel seeders and artisan commands

Step1: Installing PHPSpreadsheet in Laravel 12

You can install PhpSpreadsheet via Composer:

composer require phpoffice/phpspreadsheet

Step2: Place Your Excel File

Create a folder in your Laravel project for storing Excel files, for example:

/storage/app/imports/users.xlsx

Now place your Excel file there. Let’s assume the file is named users.xlsx.

Step3: Create Your Database Table and Model

Assume we want to import users from the Excel file.

Migration

php artisan make:migration create_users_table

// database/migrations/xxxx_xx_xx_create_users_table.php
Schema::create('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
   $table->id();
   $table->string('name');
   $table->string('email')->unique();
   $table->timestamps();
});

php artisan migrate

Model

php artisan make:model User

Step4: Create a Seeder to Handle Import

Now let’s create a seeder to Laravel database seeding with Excel file:

php artisan make:seeder UserImportSeeder

Inside the seeder:

// database/seeders/UserImportSeeder.php

namespace Database\Seeders;

use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;
use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\IOFactory;
use App\Models\User;
use Storage;

class UserImportSeeder extends Seeder
{
    public function run(): void
    {
        // Load the Excel file
        $filePath = storage_path('app/imports/users.xlsx');
        $spreadsheet = IOFactory::load($filePath);
        $worksheet = $spreadsheet->getActiveSheet();
        $rows = $worksheet->toArray();

        // Skip header row
        foreach (array_slice($rows, 1) as $row) {
            // Example: Assuming columns are [Name, Email]
            User::create([
                'name' => $row[0],
                'email' => $row[1],
            ]);
        }
    }
}

Step5: Register the Seeder

Add the seeder in DatabaseSeeder.php:

// database/seeders/DatabaseSeeder.php
public function run(): void
{
   $this->call(UserImportSeeder::class);
}

6 Run the Seeder

Now run the seeder to import the Excel data:

php artisan db:seed

✅ Final Tips

• Always validate your Excel file before processing to prevent bad data from entering your database.

• You can support .xls, .xlsx, .csv and other formats with PHPSpreadsheet.

• If your Excel is huge, consider chunking or queueing the process.

🧪 Sample users.xlsx Format

Name            | Email
-------------------------------
Alice Johnson   | alice@example.com
Bob Smith       | bob@example.com
Charlie Brown   | charlie@example.com

Make sure the headers match your column order in code.

🧾 Conclusion

By using PHPSpreadsheet with Laravel seeders, you can import Excel to MySQL in Laravel 12 effortlessly. This technique is perfect for migrating spreadsheet data, testing with real-world datasets, or setting up default content in your applications.

Need help exporting to Excel next? Drop a comment or check out our next tutorial!