Free Practice Datasets for SQL, Excel and Data Science Projects
To learn SQL or data analysis you need data, and the right data is often hard to find. Here are two easy ways to get it.
The first way is to make your own. In the Data Generator, choose the columns you want, such as name, email, city, date and amount, set the number of rows and click Generate. You get a CSV, JSON or Excel file in seconds, with up to 500,000 rows. Because it is fake, you can share it, post it in your project and break it while learning.
Making your own is best when you need a certain shape. For SQL practice, generate two related tables, for example customers and orders, and practise joins. For Excel, generate sales data with dates and practise pivot tables and VLOOKUP. For a portfolio project, a clean made-up dataset avoids privacy problems.
The second way is open data. Kaggle, Google Dataset Search, data.gov.in, data.gov and your country statistics office publish real datasets for free. Read the licence before using one in a report, and give credit to the source.
Real data is messier than fake data, which is good practice. Before analysing it, open it in the Data Profiler. It shows missing values, wrong types and duplicates in one view, so you know what to clean first.
Whatever you use, write down where the data came from. Teachers and employers like to see that.
Related tool pages
- Mock Data Generator: Generate up to 500,000 rows of realistic fake data (names, emails, addresses, dates) and download as CSV, JSON, Parquet or Excel. Free, in your browser.
- Test Data Generator: Generate test data for databases and apps: names, emails, addresses, dates and numbers, up to 500,000 rows, as CSV, JSON, Parquet or Excel. Free.
- Fake Database for Testing: Create a fake database for testing: paste a CREATE TABLE script and get realistic rows as INSERT statements, CSV or JSON. Free, in your browser.
How to use the Data Generator: step by step
- Open the Data Generator.
- Pick your columns and the number of rows.
- Click Generate.
- Download the file and load it in SQL, Excel or Python.
When to use the Data Generator
- Practise SQL joins and group by
- Build a dataset for a college project
- Practise Excel pivot tables
- Create sample data for a portfolio or demo
Example
Input: Customers: 1,000 rows
Output: id, full_name, email, city, signup_date
Frequently asked questions
How do I generate fake data?
Choose a dataset, edit the columns, set the number of rows and click Generate.
Is the data real?
No. It is random and fictional, so it is safe to share.
Can I get the same data again?
No – each click makes new data. Download to keep a set.
How many rows can the Data Generator create?
Up to 500,000 rows at a time. Choose column types such as names, emails, addresses and dates, then download as CSV, JSON, Parquet or Excel.
Tip: Generate 100 rows first. Small data is easier to check by eye while you are learning.