How to use Worksheet.Move in the xlwings API way

The Move member of the Worksheet object in the Excel object model, accessible via the xlwings library in Python, provides a programmatic way to reposition a worksheet within its workbook. This functionality is essential for organizing workbook structure, such as reordering sheets for logical presentation or moving a newly created sheet to a specific location. Unlike simply activating a sheet, the Move method physically changes the sheet’s index in the workbook’s tab order.

In xlwings, the method is accessed through a Sheet object (which represents a Worksheet). The core syntax for its API call is:

sheet.move(before, after)

Both parameters, before and after, are optional but mutually exclusive—you should specify only one. They accept either an xlwings Sheet object or an integer index.

• before: The sheet before which the current sheet will be placed. If specified as a Sheet object, the moved sheet will be positioned immediately before that specific sheet. If specified as an integer (1-based index), the moved sheet will be moved to a position before the sheet currently at that index.
• after: The sheet after which the current sheet will be placed. If specified as a Sheet object, the moved sheet will be positioned immediately after that specific sheet. If specified as an integer (1-based index), the moved sheet will be moved to a position after the sheet currently at that index.

If neither before nor after is specified, Excel will create a new workbook containing only the moved worksheet. The following table summarizes the behavior:

Parameter Provided	Resulting Action
before=target	Moves the sheet to a position immediately before the target sheet.
after=target	Moves the sheet to a position immediately after the target sheet.
Neither parameter	Moves the sheet to a new, single-sheet workbook.

Code Examples:

1. Move a sheet to the beginning of the workbook (before the first sheet):

import xlwings as xw
wb = xw.Book("report.xlsx")
sheet_to_move = wb.sheets["DataSheet"]
first_sheet = wb.sheets[0] # Index 0 refers to the first sheet
sheet_to_move.move(before=first_sheet)

2. Move a sheet to the end of the workbook (after the last sheet):

import xlwings as xw
wb = xw.Book()
summary_sheet = wb.sheets.add("Summary")
last_sheet = wb.sheets[-1] # Index -1 refers to the last sheet
summary_sheet.move(after=last_sheet)

3. Move a sheet to a specific index position (e.g., to become the third sheet):

import xlwings as xw
wb = xw.Book()
analysis_sheet = wb.sheets["Analysis"]
# To place it as the third sheet, move it before the current third sheet.
# Index is 1-based in the `move` method context for this operation.
analysis_sheet.move(before=3)

4. Move a sheet relative to another named sheet:

import xlwings as xw
wb = xw.Book("dashboard.xlsx")
chart_sheet = wb.sheets["Charts"]
pivot_sheet = wb.sheets["PivotTables"]
# Place the Charts sheet right after the PivotTables sheet
chart_sheet.move(after=pivot_sheet)