How do I Change the Sheet Name from C# on an Excel Spreadsheet

Question

I have a C# application where I am creating numerous Excel Files from Data in a Database. This part is working fine. However, my user asked if the sheet tab could be modified to reflect a field from the database. This sounds simple, however, when I try to reset the name, it tells me that it is read only and cannot be set. I have tried the following and it has not worked:

xlApp.Sheets[0].Range["A1"].Value = "NewTabName";

ALSO TRIED:

xlApp.Name = "NewTabName";

I did a google search and saw some other approaches which did not work for me as well. And a few responses indicated that it is readonly and could not be done.

This seems like something that should be simple. How can I do it.

Answer 1

You need to get access to the actual worksheet. Try something like:

  Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.Worksheet worksheet = (Worksheet)xlApp.Worksheets["Sheet1"];
  worksheet.Name = “NewTabName”;

Answer 2

Here is a fairly complete example I am copying in from existing code.

Works perfectly on Windows 10 with Excel from Office 365

Ensure you add a reference to - Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel

My path for this DLL (may differ depending on office version) - C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel\15.0.0.0__71e9bce111e9429c\Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel.dll

// Add this at top of C# file -
using Excel = Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel;

// In your class or function -
private static Excel.Application XlApp = null;
private static Excel.Workbook XlWorkbook = null;

// In your function -
XlApp = new Excel.ApplicationClass();

// Load workbook
XlWorkbook = XlApp.Workbooks.Open(@"Filename.xls",
    0, false, Type.Missing, "", "", true, Excel.XlPlatform.xlWindows,
    Type.Missing, Type.Missing, Type.Missing,
    Type.Missing, true, Type.Missing,
    Type.Missing);

// Get reference to sheet
XlWorksheet = (Excel.Worksheet)XlWorkbook.Worksheets["Sheet1"];
                        
int numsheets = XlWorkbook.Sheets.Count;

// iterates through all sheets (1-n inclusive, not zero based)
for(int i=1;i<=numsheets;i++)
{
    Excel.Worksheet sht = (Excel.Worksheet)XlWorkbook.Worksheets[i];
    
    // Show sheet name
    Console.WriteLine(i+" "+sht.Name);
}

// To save with a same or different filename
XlWorkbook.SaveAs(@"Filename.xls",
    Excel.XlFileFormat.xlWorkbookNormal, "",
    "", false, false,
    Excel.XlSaveAsAccessMode.xlNoChange, Type.Missing,
    true, Type.Missing, Type.Missing, Type.Missing);

// Close Excel  
XlWorkbook.Close(true, Type.Missing, Type.Missing);
XlApp.Quit();

// Ensure you release resources
releaseObject(XlApp);
releaseObject(XlWorkbook);
releaseObject(XlWorksheet);

Separate function called from above

private static void releaseObject(object obj)
{
  // try .. catch
  System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(obj);
}