Get data from Oracle into Excel
Pull live rows from your Oracle database into Excel and refresh them whenever you like. No ODBC driver, no exports, no macros. About ten minutes the first time, and the Free plan covers it.
What you’ll end up with
A worksheet showing the live results of a SQL query against your Oracle database, with a button that pulls the latest rows whenever the data changes. Like this:
| A | B | C | D | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | customer_id | first_name | last_name | country | total |
| 2 | 1042 | Maria | Alvarez | USA | 1,284.50 |
| 3 | 1043 | Daniel | Okafor | USA | 612.00 |
| 4 | 1047 | Priya | Nair | USA | 2,090.75 |
| 5 | 1051 | Thomas | Berg | USA | 338.20 |
| 6 | 1056 | Lucía | Ferreira | USA | 1,455.00 |
| 7 | 1060 | Kenji | Sato | USA | 874.10 |
| 8 |
Oracle holds your data on a server you or your team run. Getting it into Excel usually means drivers, connection strings, or exports that go stale the moment they land. Query Streams skips that: a small helper program called the Agent runs the query where your data is, and an Excel add-in asks it for the rows you want. Only the results travel, over an encrypted link, and Excel can be anywhere: your laptop at home, a colleague’s machine across the country, or Excel on the web.
What you’ll need
The Agent on a computer that can reach the server
A small program that runs in the background and queries the database when Excel asks. Often the database server itself, or any always-on computer on the same network.
Your Oracle connection details
The server name, the database name, and a username and password that can read it. If someone else manages the database, this is the bit to ask them for.
Which computer gets the Agent? Any always-on machine that can already reach your Oracle database, often the database server itself or a computer on the same network. Excel can be anywhere, including Excel on the web.
Connect it in five steps
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Create your account
Go to my.querystreams.com and sign up. Pick the Free plan. It is a real plan, not a trial, and it covers connecting your Oracle database and running queries from Excel.
Install the Agent on a computer that can reach the server



Sign in, open Download, and install the Agent on a machine that can already reach your Oracle database: often the database server itself, or any always-on computer on the same network. It takes a minute and starts on its own from then on.
Why a small program instead of a driver? The Agent is one install for Windows, Mac or Linux (about 85 MB on Windows, a little over 100 MB on Mac and Linux) that runs quietly in the background. It makes one outbound, encrypted connection to Query Streams, the same way a browser does, so you open no firewall port and set up no VPN. Your database stays on your network, and the rows travel to wherever you are, across the internet if need be. The only thing on your side is the add-in.
The Download page shows Your Access Key. Paste it into the Agent when it asks, and wait for the badge to read Connected to Query Streams. That is the only thing you do on the Agent itself.
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Point it at your Oracle database
Back in your browser, open Data Agents (under Data in the top menu). Your Agent is listed there. Click Add connector, choose Oracle, and fill in the details you gathered earlier:
- Connection name
- Any name you will recognise later, like Sales database.
- Server/Host
- The Oracle server name or IP address, like erp-db.company.com.
- Port
- The Oracle listener port; leave it at 1521 unless your admin changed it.
- Service Name
- The Oracle service name your admin gives you, like ORCL; fill this in, or the SID below.
- SID (if no Service Name)
- An older style of Oracle database name; only use it if you were not given a Service Name.
- Username
- An Oracle login that is allowed to read the data.
- Password
- The password for that Oracle login.
Click Test connection. When it reads Connected (or Signed in), click Next. The next screen, Which databases do you want to work with?, lists the databases this login can see: tick yours. No list? Type the name under Type a database name and click Verify. Then click Next through Data realm and finish with Create connector. The connection reaches your Agent within a few seconds.
Test failed? Usually the server name or a firewall between the Agent’s computer and the database. Try the same details from that computer with your usual database tool; if that fails, the Agent will too.
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See your data in Query Builder Optional
You can look at your Oracle database before Excel is involved at all. Open Query Builder in the portal and pick the connection you just made. The Schema tab lists your tables and columns, and clicking one puts its name in the editor, so you can write a query without remembering exact names. Click Run and the rows appear under Results. Query Builder is on every plan, Free included.
On Business plans you can also ask Nova in plain English (“show me customers in the USA”) and it writes the SQL for you. When the query looks right, save it: from Personal Core up it shows in the add-in’s Saved Queries list, and on any plan you can copy the SQL into the next step.
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Add Query Streams to Excel
In Excel, go to Insert → Get Add-ins, search for Query Streams, and click Add. Or open it straight from Query Streams on Microsoft AppSource. A Query Streams button appears on the ribbon. Sign in with the same account.
Works in Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows and Mac, and in Excel on the web.
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Pull in your first table
Click the Query Streams button, choose Stream a Query, and pick the connection you just made.
Type the query you want to run. This one pulls a few columns from a CUSTOMERS table:
Example · SQLSELECT customer_id, cust_name, city FROM customers ORDER BY cust_name FETCH FIRST 100 ROWS ONLY;
Under Destination Sheet choose Create a new sheet, then press the play button (the ▶ arrow). The rows land in Excel in a second or two. Press it again any time the data has changed and the sheet updates in place.
Don’t know SQL? Build it in Query Builder first and paste it here, or pick it from Saved Queries if you saved it.
That’s it. Your data is in the sheet and stays current with one click. Nothing left your network except the rows you asked for.
Good next moves
- Save the query in the portal so you can run it again with one click, from Excel or Google Sheets.
- Add a filter such as a date range, so the same query can answer “this month” without editing.
- Share the results with a colleague. They see the rows, not your credentials.
Questions people ask
Does Excel have to be on the same computer as your Oracle database?
No. Only the Agent has to be where your Oracle database is. Excel can be on any computer with an internet connection, including Excel on the web and Excel on a Mac. Sign in to the add-in with your account and your connections are there.
Does my data get copied to Query Streams?
No. The Agent runs the query where your data is and sends only the rows it returns. Nothing is synced or stored in between.
Does the Free plan really cover this?
Yes. Free is a plan you keep, not a trial that expires. See exactly what it includes on the pricing page.
Does it work with Excel for Mac?
Yes. Excel for Microsoft 365 on Mac and Windows, and Excel on the web.
Related guides
Every guide for Oracle
Not quite your setup?
- Want to query the Excel workbooks themselves? Excel Folder reads a folder of workbooks as tables → Excel Folder
Setup trouble?
- Want the Agent to sign in with a login that can only read? Create a read-only database user, with copy-paste SQL for each database → Create a read-only database user
- Test connection cannot reach the database server? Open the database's port in Windows Defender Firewall on the computer it runs on → Open a firewall port on Windows
- Agent shows Offline, or Test connection and Browse are greyed out? Check that the Agent is online → Is the Agent online?

