How to Properly Delete Rows in Excel with Python’s openpyxl?

The author, known as 皮皮, shares a question from a Python community about using openpyxl to delete rows in an Excel file where the row numbers did not shrink after removal, leaving large blank sections.

The spreadsheet contained over 2,800 rows; after deleting more than 1,000 rows with delete_rows, the indices remained unchanged, creating empty rows.

from openpyxl import load_workbook

# Open Excel file
workbook = load_workbook('111.xlsx')

# Select worksheet
worksheet = workbook['Sheet1']  # replace 'Sheet1' with actual sheet name

# Delete a single row (row 5) together with its formatting
worksheet.delete_rows(5)

# Delete rows 3 through 7 (including both ends) together with formatting
worksheet.delete_rows(3, 7)

# Save the updated Excel file
workbook.save('222.xlsx')

The code runs correctly in tests, and another community member confirmed it works as expected.

Later contributors noted that versions prior to 3.1.2 may exhibit the described issue, while version 3.1.2 and later handle row deletion properly.

An additional tip from a community member (illustrated in the accompanying screenshot) finally resolved the problem for the original asker.

In summary, the article presents a practical Python automation solution for cleaning up Excel files, offering both the code and version‑specific guidance to ensure rows are removed without leaving gaps.