Data analysts spend a significant portion of their time sourcing, cleaning, and formatting data. Choosing the right browser tools can slice hours off your weekly workflow.
1. Table to Excel, CSV — For Professionals (Top Pick)
When it comes to ad-hoc data extraction, nothing beats the utility of Table to Excel. Traditional web scraping tools require building "recipes" or defining CSS selectors. This extension uses hover-detection to automatically find tabular HTML data and instantly convert it to an `.xlsx` or `.csv` file.
Best For: Financial analysts downloading stock tables, researchers pulling census data, and marketers scraping directories.
2. Web Scraper - Free Web Scraping
For more complex, automated scraping tasks that span multiple pages and require navigation, Web Scraper is the industry standard. It allows you to build a sitemap mapping out website navigation and data extraction logic.
3. JSON Formatter
Working with APIs is a daily reality for modern analysts. JSON Formatter takes the raw, unreadable string of JSON outputted in your browser tab and parses it into a collapsible, color-coded structure.
4. Data Miner
Data Miner provides pre-built scraping recipes for popular websites like Zillow, LinkedIn, and Amazon. If someone else has already scraped the structure of a site, Data Miner lets you reuse their logic to pull the data instantly.
Summary
While heavyweight tools like Python and SQL are necessary for massive datasets, your browser is the front line. Installing targeted tools like Table to Excel ensures that you can rapidly move visible web data into your spreadsheet environment for immediate analysis.