{"id":2150,"date":"2026-06-27T15:04:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T07:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/?p=2150"},"modified":"2026-03-28T08:53:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T08:53:17","slug":"how-to-use-applicationnetworktemplatespath-in-the-xlwings-api-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/how-to-use-applicationnetworktemplatespath-in-the-xlwings-api-way\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use Application.NetworkTemplatesPath in the xlwings API way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <code>Application.NetworkTemplatesPath<\/code> property is a member of the Excel Object Model that returns a <code>String<\/code> representing the full network path where Microsoft Excel stores templates that are available to all users on a network. This path is typically set through Excel&#8217;s options or via group policy in an enterprise environment. In the context of xlwings, this property provides a convenient way to programmatically determine the central location for shared workbook and worksheet templates, enabling scripts to dynamically locate and utilize these resources for report generation, data standardization, and template-driven automation. Accessing this path via xlwings allows for robust, location-agnostic code that adapts to the specific network configuration of the deployment environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Functionality<\/strong><br>The primary function is to retrieve the read-only network templates directory path. It is useful for operations such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Opening a network template to create a new workbook.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Saving a custom template to the shared network location for team-wide access.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Listing available templates in the directory for user selection in a custom dialog.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Syntax in xlwings<\/strong><br>The property is accessed through the xlwings <code>App<\/code> object, which represents the Excel application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>import xlwings as xw\n\n# Connect to the active Excel instance or create a new one\napp = xw.apps.active # Or xw.App() for a new instance\n\n# Access the NetworkTemplatesPath property\nnetwork_path = app.api.NetworkTemplatesPath<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><code>app<\/code>: An xlwings <code>App<\/code> object.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>.api<\/code>: This property provides direct access to the underlying Excel Application object&#8217;s API (the COM object).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><code>.NetworkTemplatesPath<\/code>: The specific property call. It takes no parameters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The return value is a Python string (<code>str<\/code>) containing the full UNC (Universal Naming Convention) path, e.g., <code>\"\\\\fileserver\\companydata\\ExcelTemplates\"<\/code>. If no network path is configured, it may return an empty string (<code>\"\"<\/code>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Code Examples<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Opening a Workbook from the Network Templates Path:<\/strong><br>This example checks if the path is configured and opens a specific template file from it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>import xlwings as xw\nimport os\n\napp = xw.apps.active\nbase_path = app.api.NetworkTemplatesPath\n\nif base_path:\n    template_file = \"Monthly_Report.xltx\"\n    full_path = os.path.join(base_path, template_file)\n\n    if os.path.exists(full_path):\n        # Opens the template, creating a new workbook based on it\n        new_wb = app.books.open(full_path)\n        print(f\"Opened template from: {full_path}\")\n        # ... perform operations on new_wb ...\n    else:\n        print(f\"Template file not found at {full_path}\")\nelse:\n    print(\"Network Templates Path is not configured.\")<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"2\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Saving a Custom Template to the Network Location:<\/strong><br>This example saves the active workbook as a template (.xltx) to the shared network directory.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>import xlwings as xw\nimport os\n\napp = xw.apps.active\nwb = app.books.active\nnetwork_path = app.api.NetworkTemplatesPath\n\nif network_path:\n    # Ensure the directory exists (Excel usually manages this)\n    if not os.path.isdir(network_path):\n        os.makedirs(network_path)\n\n    template_name = \"Data_Analysis_Template.xltx\"\n    save_path = os.path.join(network_path, template_name)\n\n    # Save the active workbook as a template\n    # Note: The `FileFormat` parameter for .xltx is 54 (xlOpenXMLTemplate).\n    # We use the .api to access the SaveAs method with specific parameters.\n    wb.api.SaveAs(Filename=save_path, FileFormat=54)\n    print(f\"Template saved successfully to: {save_path}\")\nelse:\n    print(\"Cannot save template. Network Templates Path is not set.\")<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"3\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Listing Available Templates:<\/strong><br>This script retrieves and prints a list of all Excel template files (.xltx, .xltm, .xlt) in the network directory.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code>import xlwings as xw\nimport os\n\napp = xw.apps.active\nnetwork_path = app.api.NetworkTemplatesPath\n\nif network_path and os.path.isdir(network_path):\n    template_extensions = ('.xltx', '.xltm', '.xlt')\n    all_files = os.listdir(network_path)\n    template_files = &#91;f for f in all_files if     f.lower().endswith(template_extensions)]\n\n    print(f\"Templates found in '{network_path}':\")\n    for template in template_files:\n        print(f\" - {template}\")\nelse:\n    print(\"Network Templates Path is either not configured or not accessible.\")<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The `Application.NetworkTemplatesPath` property is a member of the Excel Object Model that returns a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-xlwings-api-reference"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2150"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3287,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2150\/revisions\/3287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xlwings.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}