Python: Pandas pd.read_excel giving ImportError: Install xlrd >= 0.9.0 for Excel support

As @COLDSPEED so eloquently pointed out the error explicitly tells you to install xlrd.

pip install xlrd

And you will be good to go.

Since December 2020 xlrd no longer supports xlsx-Files as explained in the official changelog. You can use openpyxl instead:

pip install openpyxl

And in your python-file:

import pandas as pd
pd.read_excel(path/to/file.xlsx, engine=openpyxl)

Either use:

pip install xlrd

And if you are using conda, use

conda install -c anaconda xlrd

Thats it. good luck.