Import Data from Online Sources

Online import on the Associate exam

Certiport’s MO-210 objective domain lists import data from online sources alongside text/CSV import. In Microsoft 365 Excel, that skill centers on the From Web connector in Get & Transform Data. You paste or type a URL, authenticate if prompted, pick a table Excel detected on the page, and load it into the workbook.

Exam projects may give you a local HTML file path or a documented URL in the instructions panel. Treat whatever address the task provides as the "online" source—even if the lab environment hosts it locally for reliability. The clicks you practice are the same: Data → From Web (or Data → Get Data → From Other Sources → From Web, depending on how your ribbon is labeled).

Step-by-step: From Web

1. Go to the Data tab.
2. Choose From Web, or open Get Data and select the Web connector.
3. In the dialog, enter the URL from the task instructions exactly (watch for https:// vs http:// and trailing paths).
4. Click OK. If Excel asks for credentials, follow the project’s guidance (Anonymous is common for public sample pages).
5. In Navigator, browse the list of detected tables and items. Click each candidate and read the preview grid.
6. Select the table that matches the columns named in the task (for example, a rate table with Region and Rate).
7. Click Load for a new sheet, or Load To… for a specific sheet/cell, or Transform Data only if cleanup is required.

Reading the Navigator

Navigator is the make-or-break screen. Web pages often expose multiple tables—navigation menus, footers, and the real data table. MO-210 tasks usually describe the columns you need. Match by:

• Column names in the preview
• Approximate row counts when stated
• Whether the first row looks like headers

If two tables look similar, open Web View (when available) to see how the table sits on the page, then return to Table View to confirm the grid.

Refresh considerations (Associate level)

A From Web (or From Text/CSV) import typically creates a query connection. That means the worksheet table is linked to the source:

• Select a cell in the imported table → Data tab → Refresh (or right-click the table → Refresh).
• Queries & Connections (Data tab) lists queries; you can refresh one query or refresh all.
• Refresh pulls the latest content from the same URL or file path. It does not re-ask you to pick a different table unless you edit the query.

What Associate candidates should know for tasks:

You are not expected to schedule background refresh, write custom refresh VBA, or build multi-step ETL pipelines.

From Web vs copy-paste vs From Text/CSV

Choose the method the task descriptor implies:

• From Web — Instructions mention a website, URL, online table, or "import from the web."
• From Text/CSV — Instructions name a .csv / .txt file in the exam files folder.
• Copy-paste — Instructions say to copy a range from a webpage or document and paste into Excel as ordinary cells. Pasted data is usually static (no query). Use paste when the project literally tells you to copy, or when you are transferring a small block that is not presented as a Get Data source.

Why Get Data is preferred when the skill is "import"

Import via Get Data keeps column types more consistent, can preserve a refresh link, and matches the objective wording import data from online sources. Pasting can break numeric formats, bring unwanted HTML formatting, and leave no connection to refresh. On a performance exam, matching the intended tool matters as much as ending with similar-looking cells.

Exam-style scenarios

Scenario A: "Import the currency rates table from the URL provided in the instructions onto a new worksheet named Rates."

1. Data → From Web → paste URL → OK.
2. In Navigator, select the table whose preview shows currency codes and rates.
3. Load To → Table → New worksheet, then rename the sheet to Rates (or load then rename, depending on what is fastest and allowed).

Scenario B: "Update the workbook so the imported web data shows the latest values."

1. Click inside the existing imported table.
2. Data → Refresh All (or Refresh).
3. Confirm row values changed if the source changed; do not re-import a second copy unless asked.

Scenario C: "Add the three product names from the company webpage into cells A1:A3."

That wording points to a small manual copy, not a full From Web table load. Overusing From Web here can create an entire table and extra query the grader did not request.

Associate boundaries (avoid MO-211 drift)

Stay out of Expert-only complexity unless the task explicitly requires a simple transform:

• Do not build parameterized URLs, API keys, or OAuth flows beyond accepting a credential prompt.
• Do not design multi-query merges, appends, or data models for their own sake.
• Do not rewrite page HTML. If Navigator cannot see a table, re-check the URL and try another listed table—or follow alternate instructions in the project.

Practical tips that save time

• Paste URLs carefully; a missing character yields empty Navigator results.
• After Load, rename the sheet and table if the task specifies names—import alone may leave default names like Table1 / Sheet2.
• If the task also asks to convert the result to a range or apply table style options, finish the import first, then complete those Domain 3 steps.
• Keep one query per required source; duplicate imports waste time and confuse Refresh All.