Speed Up Excel Import/Export in Laravel using Fast Excel

Data import export is crucial feature into every Laravel application which allows user to sync their data with system. But working with large dataset sometimes it stops in between process or take too much time. Laravel fast excel helps you get it done quickly without server hiccups. In this guide, you’ll learn to speed up Excel Import/Export in Laravel 12 application.

Also we will explore topics like, why Fast Excel is a smart pick, how it stood up against Laravel Excel, and how to implement blazing-fast imports and exports with clear, friendly examples.

Why choose Fast Excel

When you must import Excel in Laravel or work with giant exports, Fast Excel streams rows in a efficient manner so large spreadsheets do not strangle your app. It maintains low memory usage by not loading entire sheets and its easy API allows you to implement import and export pipelines with ease.

It prefers flat data such as products, users, orders, and invoices. You can also combine it with Laravel queues to execute jobs in the background for a seamless user experience.

Comparison: Fast Excel vs Laravel Excel

When to Choose Fast Excel

Fast excel is idle for reading and writing large, flat datasets with minimal overhead.
Provides faster performance on big files and uses less memory by streaming data.
Provides a lean feature set focused on straightforward data mapping.
Easy to implement and start import and export instantly.
Choose this for simple, high-volume import and export tasks where speed is critical.

When to Move Forward with Laravel Excel

Designed for rich feature workflows, complex sheet handling, styling cells, and events.
Provides decent performance but can consume more memory because of its rich features.
Features comprehensive features such as events, management of multiple sheets, and powerful formatting.
Has a slightly higher learning curve because of its extensive array of options.
Choose this for more complex Excel tasks with heavy formatting or intricate business rules.

Installation of Fast Excel Package In Laravel

The Fast-Excel provides simple and ready to use installation process. You just have to run single command to install package and start using it. There is no need for additional setup or configuration. Just single command to start importing and exporting excel data into Laravel 12 application.

To Install Fast Excel package enter below command:

composer require rap2hpoutre/fast-excel

Import Excel Files in Laravel with Fast Excel

Importing excel files using fast excel is quite simple and strait forward. Let’s try to understand it with simple example. Suppose you are creating excel import functionality where user will upload excel sheet containing product’s information.

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Rap2hpoutre\FastExcel\FastExcel;
use App\Models\Product;

class ProductImportController extends Controller
{
    public function __invoke(Request $request)
    {
        $request->validate([
            'file' => 'required|file|mimes:xlsx,csv,ods|max:20480',
        ]);

        (new FastExcel)->import($request->file('file'), function ($row) {
            return Product::updateOrCreate(
                ['sku' => $row['SKU']],
                [
                    'name' => $row['Name'],
                    'price' => $row['Price'],
                    'stock' => $row['Stock'],
                ]
            );
        });

        return back()->with('status', 'Import completed');
    }
}

Here, It will validate file type and then start import data using fast excel. First, It will check record exists or not into our database and add/update it based on result for each row.

It’s a simple example. However, you can add data validation and run import process as job and put it into queue for better user experience.

Excel Export in Laravel with Fast Excel

For export, we will take similar example of exporting product data to excel file and allowing user to download it.

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Rap2hpoutre\FastExcel\FastExcel;
use App\Models\Product;

class ProductExportController
{
    public function __invoke()
    {
        $products = Product::select('sku', 'name', 'price', 'stock')->cursor();

        return (new FastExcel($products))->download('products.xlsx', function ($product) {
            return [
                'SKU' => $product->sku,
                'Name' => $product->name,
                'Price' => $product->price,
                'Stock' => $product->stock,
            ];
        });
    }
}

Here, it will take all product’s data using cursor and generate excel file called products.xlsx. Once file is generated, it will start download.

However, You can store this file to some location on server too. The Fast-excel also provides easy method to create file into file system. Let’s see same example with storing file instead of download.

$path = Storage::path('exports/products.xlsx');

$products = Product::all();

(new FastExcel($products))->export($path);

It will add data into exports/products.xlsx file. This feature is useful for creating history or report files as background job and provide it whenever user requests. This type of approach is used when the file data does not need to refresh or generated in real-time.

Conclusion

To speed up Excel import/export in Laravel using Fast Excel, focus on streaming, simple mapping, and clean headers. For performance specified application which required fast, reliable results fast-excel is idel. There are few drawback of fast-excel in compared to laravel-excel like data validation, advance formatting options, events, accessing multiple sheets and more so it’s up to you to choose either one or both for your Laravel 12 application.

Want to learn more about handling CSV files efficiently? Check out our detailed guide on Reading and Parsing CSV File in Laravel to simplify your data import process.

Codewolfy