How to export a Salesforce report to Excel

Exporting a report is the quickest way to get a specific, filtered set of Salesforce records into Excel. Here is how, with the one choice that trips people up.

Step by step

1. Open the report and Run it so it shows the rows you want.
2. Click Export (top right).
3. Choose the export view:
   • Formatted Report keeps the report’s headers, groupings, and filters, and exports an .xlsx file. Good for sharing or presenting.
   • Details Only exports just the underlying rows, as .xlsx or .csv. Good when you want to work with the raw data.
4. Pick the encoding if prompted (UTF-8 is the safe default), and export.

Formatted vs Details Only: which to pick

• Pick Formatted when a person will read the file: it preserves the layout.
• Pick Details Only when you will sort, filter, or edit the data, you want clean rows and columns, not grouped report formatting.

If you plan to change the data and send it back to Salesforce, Details Only is the one you want.

Getting your edits back into Salesforce

A report export is one-way: it does not update Salesforce when you change the spreadsheet. To put edits back you would normally re-import a CSV with a tool like Data Loader, mapping columns to fields and hoping the picklist values and dates line up.

Upcells removes that step. It exports your records to Excel (with picklists as real dropdowns), and when you drop the edited file back it shows a field-by-field diff of exactly what will change before anything is written. See edit Salesforce records in Excel and sync them back.

For the full set of export options, see how to export Salesforce to Excel.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Formatted Report and Details Only? Formatted keeps the report layout (headers, groups) as .xlsx. Details Only exports the raw rows as .xlsx or .csv, better for editing.

Why is my Salesforce export opening with strange characters in Excel? It is usually an encoding mismatch. Export as UTF-8, and open it in Excel via Data, then From Text/CSV, choosing UTF-8, rather than double-clicking.

Can I export a report straight to Excel and then update Salesforce from it? The report export itself is read-only. To update Salesforce from the spreadsheet, re-import with Data Loader or use a round-trip tool like Upcells.