Extract rows from Excel worksheet using n8n action

PDF4me Extract Rows converts any worksheet slice into ready-to-use JSON within n8n. Specify 0-based row/column ranges, decide if the first row should become headers, skip hidden or empty rows, and choose whether values remain typed (numbers, booleans, ISO dates) or forced to text. Ideal for piping Excel data into APIs, databases, or additional PDF4me actions.

Setup

Add the PDF4me “Extract Rows” node to your n8n workflow and configure the required parameters. For initial setup instructions, see our n8n Integration Guide.

Prerequisites

• PDF4me API credentials
• n8n workflow access

Get Your API Key

Configuration

1. Add the PDF4me node to the workflow
2. Select the "Extract rows from Excel worksheet" action
3. Provide the Excel source and extraction window

Parameters

Important: Parameters marked with an asterisk (***) are required. Row/column indexes are 0-based (Row 0 = Excel row 1).

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
Input Data Type***	String	Excel source selector (Binary Data, Base64 String, URL).	Binary Data
Input Binary Field***	Binary	Required when Binary Data is selected.	{{ $binary.data }}
Base64 Document Content***	String	Required when Base64 String is selected.	UEsDBBQAAAA...
Document URL***	String	Required when URL is selected. Public file link.	https://files.example.com/report.xlsx
File Name***	String	Logical workbook name with extension.	analytics.xlsx
Worksheet Name	String	Worksheet to read. Empty = first sheet.	Summary
First Row***	Number	0-based starting row for extraction.	0
Last Row	Number	0-based ending row. Use -1 to read to the last data row.	-1
First Column	Number	0-based starting column (0 = column A).	0
Last Column	Number	0-based ending column. Use -1 for last data column.	-1
Has Header Row	Boolean	true uses First Row as column headers and excludes it from data.	true
Exclude Hidden Rows	Boolean	Skip rows that are hidden in Excel.	false
Exclude Hidden Columns	Boolean	Skip hidden columns.	false
Exclude Empty Rows	Boolean	Remove rows where all cells are empty.	true
Export Empty Cells	Boolean	Include empty cells with empty-string values instead of omitting them.	false
Export Values As Text	Boolean	Force all values to strings. false preserves native types.	false
Binary Data Output Name***	String	Binary slot storing serialized JSON (PDF4me returns JSON bytes).	document

Output

Output Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
success	Boolean	PDF4me operation status - Boolean flag indicating the success or failure of the row extraction process. PDF4me returns true for successful operations and false for any errors	true
originalFileName	String	Original Excel document filename - The name of the input Excel document file	myExcelFile.xlsx
worksheetName	String	Worksheet name - The name of the worksheet from which rows were extracted	First Worksheet
hasHeaderRow	Boolean	Header row status - Indicates whether the first row was treated as headers. true if headers were used, false otherwise	true
firstRow	Number	First row index (0-based) - The 0-based index of the first row extracted	0
lastRow	Number	Last row index (0-based) - The 0-based index of the last row extracted. -1 indicates extraction to the last data row	2
firstColumn	Number	First column index (0-based) - The 0-based index of the first column extracted (0 = column A)	0
lastColumn	Number	Last column index (0-based) - The 0-based index of the last column extracted. -1 indicates extraction to the last data column	-1
excludeEmptyRows	Boolean	Empty row exclusion - Indicates whether empty rows were excluded. true if excluded, false if included	true
excludeHiddenRows	Boolean	Hidden row exclusion - Indicates whether hidden rows were excluded. true if excluded, false if included	true
excludeHiddenColumns	Boolean	Hidden column exclusion - Indicates whether hidden columns were excluded. true if excluded, false if included	true
exportValuesAsText	Boolean	Text export mode - Indicates whether values were exported as text. true if forced to strings, false if native types preserved	false
exportEmptyCells	Boolean	Empty cell export - Indicates whether empty cells were exported. true if included with empty strings, false if omitted	false
exportAsObject	Boolean	Object export mode - Indicates whether data was exported as object format	false
hyperlinkFormat	String	Hyperlink format - Format used for hyperlinks in extracted data. Values: "Text", "Url", etc.	Text
culture	String	Culture/Locale code - Culture code used for data extraction (e.g., "en-US", "de-DE", "fr-FR")	en-US
rowsExtracted	Number	Number of rows extracted - The total count of rows that were successfully extracted	1
extractedData	Object	Extracted data object - Nested object containing the extracted row data with rowData array	{"rowData": [{"Column1": 1, "First Name": "Dulce"}]}
message	String	Operation message - Descriptive message indicating the result of the row extraction operation, including the number of rows extracted and worksheet name	Successfully extracted 1 row(s) from worksheet 'First Worksheet'

N8N Action Response

The PDF4me Extract rows from Excel worksheet API returns a response that can be viewed in multiple formats. Choose the view that best fits your needs:

JSON

JSON Response Format

The raw JSON response from the API:

[
  {
    "success": true,
    "originalFileName": "myExcelFile.xlsx",
    "worksheetName": "First Worksheet",
    "hasHeaderRow": true,
    "firstRow": 0,
    "lastRow": 2,
    "firstColumn": 0,
    "lastColumn": -1,
    "excludeEmptyRows": true,
    "excludeHiddenRows": true,
    "excludeHiddenColumns": true,
    "exportValuesAsText": false,
    "exportEmptyCells": false,
    "exportAsObject": false,
    "hyperlinkFormat": "Text",
    "culture": "en-US",
    "rowsExtracted": 1,
    "extractedData": {
      "document": null,
      "fileName": null,
      "success": true,
      "errorMessage": null,
      "rowData": [
        {
          "Column1": 1,
          "First Name": "Dulce",
          "Last Name": "Abril",
          "Gender": "Female",
          "Country": "United States",
          "Age": 32,
          "Date": "15/10/2017",
          "Id": 1562
        },
        {
          "Column1": 2,
          "First Name": "Mara",
          "Last Name": "Hashimoto",
          "Gender": "Female",
          "Country": "Great Britain",
          "Age": 25,
          "Date": "16/08/2016",
          "Id": 1582
        }
      ]
    },
    "message": "Successfully extracted 1 row(s) from worksheet 'First Worksheet'"
  }
]

Table

Table View

Response data in a structured table format:

Parameter	Value
success	true
originalFileName	myExcelFile.xlsx
worksheetName	First Worksheet
hasHeaderRow	true
firstRow	0
lastRow	2
firstColumn	0
lastColumn	-1
excludeEmptyRows	true
excludeHiddenRows	true
excludeHiddenColumns	true
exportValuesAsText	false
exportEmptyCells	false
exportAsObject	false
hyperlinkFormat	Text
culture	en-US
rowsExtracted	1
extractedData	Object containing rowData array
message	Successfully extracted 1 row(s) from worksheet 'First Worksheet'

Extracted Data Object:

Parameter	Value
document	null
fileName	null
success	true
errorMessage	null
rowData	Array of extracted row objects

Note: rowData contains the extracted row objects as an array with column headers as keys.

Schema

Schema View

The data structure and types of the response:

1 item
success: ☑ true
originalFileName: T myExcelFile.xlsx
worksheetName: T First Worksheet
hasHeaderRow: ☑ true
firstRow: # 0
lastRow: # 2
firstColumn: # 0
lastColumn: # -1
excludeEmptyRows: ☑ true
excludeHiddenRows: ☑ true
excludeHiddenColumns: ☑ true
exportValuesAsText: ☑ false
exportEmptyCells: ☑ false
exportAsObject: ☑ false
hyperlinkFormat: T Text
culture: T en-US
rowsExtracted: # 1
extractedData: {} Object
  document: null
  fileName: null
  success: ☑ true
  errorMessage: null
  rowData: [] Array
    [0]: {} Object
      Column1: # 1
      First Name: T Dulce
      Last Name: T Abril
      Gender: T Female
      Country: T United States
      Age: # 32
      Date: T 15/10/2017
      Id: # 1562
    [1]: {} Object
      Column1: # 2
      First Name: T Mara
      Last Name: T Hashimoto
      Gender: T Female
      Country: T Great Britain
      Age: # 25
      Date: T 16/08/2016
      Id: # 1582
message: T Successfully extracted 1 row(s) from worksheet 'First Worksheet'

Type Indicators:

• T = String (Text)
• # = Number
• ☑ = Boolean
• [] = Array
• {} = Object
• null = Null value

Binary

Binary Data View

The extracted data is returned as JSON in the response. Access the row data directly from the extractedData.rowData array:

extractedData
─────────────────────────────
rowData: Array of row objects
success: true
errorMessage: null

Data Access:

• Row Data Array: $json.extractedData.rowData
• Individual Rows: $json.extractedData.rowData[0]
• Column Values: $json.extractedData.rowData[0]["First Name"]
• JSON Response: Available as structured JSON in n8n response

Use Cases

• API feeds: Extract filtered rows and push them directly to REST endpoints or webhook consumers.
• Database ingestion: Turn Excel reports into structured JSON nightly before inserting into SQL/NoSQL stores.
• Validation & QA: Pull ranges for rule checks, send alerts, or enrich other workflows without exporting manually.

Get Help

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