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Basic Hello World Example

This example demonstrates the simplest way to create a spreadsheet with PhpSpreadsheet. We’ll create a new spreadsheet, add some data to cells, and save it to a file. 
<?php

use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Spreadsheet;
use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Xlsx;

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

// Create new Spreadsheet object
$spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();

// Add some data
$spreadsheet->setActiveSheetIndex(0)
    ->setCellValue('A1', 'Hello')
    ->setCellValue('B2', 'world!')
    ->setCellValue('C1', 'Hello')
    ->setCellValue('D2', 'world!');

// Rename worksheet
$spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()->setTitle('Simple');

// Save to file
$writer = new Xlsx($spreadsheet);
$writer->save('hello_world.xlsx');

echo 'Spreadsheet created successfully!';

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What This Code Does

  1. Creates a new spreadsheet: new Spreadsheet() initializes an empty spreadsheet with one worksheet
  2. Sets cell values: Uses setCellValue() to add text to specific cells (A1, B2, C1, D2)
  3. Renames the worksheet: Changes the default sheet name from “Worksheet” to “Simple”
  4. Saves the file: Creates an Xlsx writer and saves the spreadsheet as hello_world.xlsx

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Adding UTF-8 Characters

PhpSpreadsheet fully supports UTF-8 characters, allowing you to work with international text: 
<?php

use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Spreadsheet;
use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Xlsx;

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();

// Add UTF-8 text
$spreadsheet->setActiveSheetIndex(0)
    ->setCellValue('A1', 'Miscellaneous glyphs')
    ->setCellValue('A2', 'éàèùâêîôûëïüÿäöüç');

$writer = new Xlsx($spreadsheet);
$writer->save('utf8_example.xlsx');

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Multi-line Text in Cells

You can add multi-line text to cells by using newline characters (\n) and enabling text wrapping: 
<?php

use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Spreadsheet;
use PhpOffice\PhpSpreadsheet\Writer\Xlsx;

require 'vendor/autoload.php';

$spreadsheet = new Spreadsheet();

// Add multi-line text
$spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()
    ->setCellValue('A1', "Hello\nWorld");

// Enable text wrapping and auto-height
$spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()
    ->getRowDimension(1)
    ->setRowHeight(-1);  // -1 = auto-height

$spreadsheet->getActiveSheet()
    ->getStyle('A1')
    ->getAlignment()
    ->setWrapText(true);

$writer = new Xlsx($spreadsheet);
$writer->save('multiline_example.xlsx');

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Key Takeaways

  • Always require the autoloader before using PhpSpreadsheet classes
  • Use setCellValue() to add data to cells
  • Cell references use Excel notation (A1, B2, etc.)
  • Method chaining is supported for cleaner code
  • Save files using writer classes like Xlsx, Xls, or Ods

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