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Appending new records to an existing Excel worksheet in FME without overwriting rows

  • March 10, 2026
  • 5 replies
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kylewicks
Contributor
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I’m writing data from FME into an existing Excel sheet (XLSX writer) that is later edited by others in Google Sheets. Some columns are manually updated after the file is generated.

When the workspace runs again, FME starts writing at Start Row = 2, which overwrites the existing rows and removes those manual edits.

Is there a recommended way to append new rows to the bottom of an existing worksheet in FME while preserving existing rows and user edits? I saw a somewhat similar question in a different post, but didn’t know if there was an easier way?

5 replies

doko
Contributor
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  • Contributor
  • March 10, 2026

Hi,

I did a quick test on my side and could make it work. If you use for example a feature writer make sure that the Writer Mode is set to “Insert” and that in the Parameters of the feature writer the option Overwrite Existing File is set to “No”.

Kind Regards

Donato


kylewicks
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  • March 11, 2026

Donato - what version of FME are you using? In mine (2025.1) I have tried what you’re suggesting, but don’t have the same parameter options. When I do the same thing in the navigator, that doesn’t give me the result I want either.


kylewicks
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  • March 11, 2026

@redgeographics do you have any input on this?


doko
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  • March 12, 2026

I’m using FME 2025.2, but I m pretty sure this should work also in FME 2025.1. Could you maybe share some screenshots of your workspace and excel sheet ?


redgeographics
Celebrity
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@redgeographics do you have any input on this?

I would say the same as ​@doko to be honest.