ImportError: Missing optional dependency 'xlrd'. Use pip or conda to install xlrd.

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR: pandas needs the xlrd package to read legacy .xls files and it is not installed. Run pip install xlrd and re-run your read_excel call. For modern .xlsx files install openpyxl instead.

The error

ImportError: Missing optional dependency 'xlrd'. Use pip or conda to install xlrd.

Fix it

1. Install the Excel engine your file format needs:

   pip install xlrd

   Expected: install completes.

2. Re-run the read:

   import pandas as pd
   df = pd.read_excel("your_file.xls")
   print(df.head())

   Expected: prints the first rows instead of raising.

3. If your file is .xlsx (not .xls), install openpyxl instead:

   pip install openpyxl

When this applies

Use this when pd.read_excel raises the missing-xlrd message, which means the file is the legacy BIFF (.xls) format.

When it does not apply

If the error names openpyxl, pyxlsb, or odf, install that engine instead. If the file will not open even with the engine installed, the file itself may be corrupt.

Compatibility

All pandas versions. xlrd 2.x only reads .xls; it dropped .xlsx support, which is why .xlsx files need openpyxl.

Root cause

pandas keeps Excel engines as optional dependencies to stay light. It picks the engine from the file extension, and .xls maps to xlrd, which is not installed by default.

Edge cases

xlrd>=2.0 refuses .xlsx files with a clear error; do not fight it, use openpyxl. In locked-down environments, add xlrd to requirements so deploys do not regress.

A commit in aws-solutions-library-samples/accelerated-intelligent-document-processing-on-aws fixed exactly this: their pipeline advertised .xls support but never declared xlrd, so pd.read_excel raised Missing optional dependency 'xlrd' and the workbook came back empty. The verified fix was declaring xlrd as a dependency (xlrd==2.0.2 in their case) and installing it, after which reading the .xls fixture returned real cell content. Commit: https://github.com/aws-solutions-library-samples/accelerated-intelligent-document-processing-on-aws/commit/ce2e941cd14b954d7e2fcbbd776ef81a38703b88