Exporting Reports & Dashboards into Microsoft Excel

This lesson will provide an overview on how to export Reports and Dashboards into Microsoft Excel.

Dashboards cannot be exported into an Excel sheet; only Reports can be exported. If trying to export a Dashboard, you will need to locate the Report the Dashboard represents then export that Report.

Locating a Report

There are 3 ways to locate a Report:

1. Type the Report name in the Search field
2. Open the Reports tab and select from the list
3. Open a Report from a Dashboard – to open the full Report without filters, click on the Dashboard Title

All Dashboard data will be stored in the Reports tab as well as in the Dashboards tab. Notice the Annual Revenue By Business Unit Dashboard (3) can also be found in the Reports tab (2).

Exporting the Report into Excel

1. Click Export

Select Format Type

There are 2 options for formatting this export:

1. Comma Delimited .csv – It is recommended that this format is used when the file is rather large. CSV reduces the download time and the file size. It still opens in Excel and requires some minor formatting once opened
2. Excel Format .xls – This should only be used for small Reports because this format changes it to an XML file which makes the file size larger which creates a longer download time and takes longer to open the file in Excel

Once the format has been selected, click the Export button to continue.

Note: Exporting might take a few minutes depending on the Report size.

Excel Sheet

Once the Report has been loaded into Excel, save it to your computer:

1. Select Save
2. Name the Report
3. Select Excel Workbook (.xlsx) as the format
4. Click Save to continue

When saving the downloaded Report to Excel, Salesforce creates an HTML version of the file, even though the file suffix is “.xls”. Excel can handle such files, but you should convert it to the proper “.xls” or “.xlsx” format before using the file with Excel or any other application.

If the Report was exported using the “Comma Delimited .csv” format type (in the previous step), make sure to save the Report on your computer as a “.xls” file. Excel can read “.csv” files, but you should save it in “.xls” format if you plan to add more sheets or apply logic in any of the cells. This is because the “.csv” format is “data only” which does not support any of the more advanced Excel functionality.