Export a sheet or report

In the Smartsheet app, you can export any sheet or report to the following formats:

• Microsoft Excel
• PDF
• Image (PNG) (Gantt Chart Only)
• Google Sheets
• Microsoft Project (Gantt Chart Only as XML)

To enhance the automation of your data exports, we have introduced two entry points within your sheets:

• From the top navigation bar, select File > Export - You will discover five options to export your data and four options for automating your data export. For more information on automating your export, see Create an offload workflow in Data Shuttle.
• Also, at the top navigation bar, you can select the Connection menu and choose Create workflow or Manage workflows to manage your export automation directly from Data Shuttle.

After exporting a sheet or report, your browser will save it on your computer. It’ll store the file you exported in a folder based on your browser settings. 

Not everything is included in your export. Groupings and summary rows are excluded, and attachments are dropped. To include attachments, create a backup of the sheet instead.

To quickly locate the exported file, open the Downloads folder on your browser. Use the keyboard shortcut Crl+J on Windows or Command+Option+L on macOS.

Use send as an attachment to generate recurring exports

To send yourself or others a PDF or Excel version of your sheet or report through email on a recurring schedule, see the following help articles:

• Send the entire sheet or report through email as a PDF or Excel (.xls) attachment.

• Share a Report as an Attachment in Email

Export to Microsoft Excel

To export any sheet or report from Smartsheet for use in Microsoft Excel, select File > Export > Export to Microsoft Excel.

The exported data may not appear in Excel exactly as it does in Smartsheet. Here is a list of key differences:

• Gantt charts are excluded: Excel does not support a Gantt chart format. Exporting a Gantt chart to Excel will export only the task list it’s based on.
• Formulas are not preserved: Due to the differences between Excel and Smartsheet formula syntax, formulas aren’t preserved on export.
  To work around this, remove the equal sign at the beginning of the formulas to store them as texts, and then save the sheet. Once you open the Excel file, you can add the equal sign back and modify the syntax to make the formulas work in Excel.
• Comments and sheet summaries appear on separate tabs in the exported workbook
• Reports are limited to 20,000 rows: If your report has over 20,000 rows, you can create multiple reports that pull in fewer rows and export each report as a separate Excel file. Learn more about creating reports.
  If a sort was applied to your report, fewer than 20,000 rows may be exported.
• Not all column types are supported in Excel: Excel does not support Dropdown, Contact List, Checkbox, and Symbols ( Harvey Balls, etc.) columns. When you export sheets that use these column types, only text values will be exported. Values in Boolean column types (Checkbox, etc.) will be exported as True or False, according to the item's state in the cell.

Export to image (PNG format)

To export any sheet or report that includes a Gantt chart to a PNG format, follow these steps:

1. Open the sheet you want to export. 
2. On the toolbar, switch the sheet or report to Gantt View. 
3. Select File > Export > Export Gantt to Image (PNG).
4. In the Selection section of the Export Gantt to Image (PNG) form, choose to export the entire sheet or selected rows.
   • If the Selected Rows option isn’t available, close the Export Gantt to Image (PNG) form, select the rows to print, and reopen the form.
5. In the Options section, select which columns to include in the image. 
   • By default, only the Primary Column is included, but you can select the Primary Column name—or the Edit button—to include additional columns.

Customize the printed timeline in your image export

If you use a Custom Date Range, the time span depends on your Timeline Display choice. For example, in the Project Settings form, you set the Primary heading of your timeline display to Years. You also chose March 1 as your start date and June 30 as your end date. The PDF will show a complete year because of your timeline choice.

To narrow the printed timeline, in the Timeline Display tab of the Project Settings form, change the Primary heading choice to Quarters or Weeks. For more information, see Modify dependency and Gantt settings.

Export to a Google Sheets

To export any sheet or report from Smartsheet to Google Sheets, select File > Export > Export to Google Sheets.

Similar to files exported in Excel, files exported to Google Sheets won’t appear exactly as it does in Smartsheet. Here’s a list of key differences:

• Gantt charts are excluded: Google Sheets does not support a Gantt chart format. Exporting a Gantt chart to Google will export only the task list.
• Not all column types are supported in Google Sheets: Similar to Excel, Google Sheets does not support Dropdown, Contact List, Checkbox, and Symbols (Harvey balls, etc.) columns. When you export sheets that use these column types, only text values will be exported. Values in Boolean columns (Checkbox, etc.) will be exported as True or False, according to the item's state in the cell.
• Sheet summaries appear on a separate tab in the exported workbook
• Formulas are not preserved on file exports: Smartsheet’s formula syntax differs from Google Sheets. 
  To work around this, remove the equal sign at the beginning of the formulas to store them as texts, then save the sheet. Once you open the Google Sheets, you can add the equal sign back and modify the syntax to make the formula work in Google Sheets.
• To revoke Smartsheet's access or change the Google account you are exporting to, see Google's instructions to remove site or app access.

Can’t find your download? Check your personal Google Drive. That’s where Smartsheet places your export(s).

Export to Microsoft Project

Any sheet that includes a Gantt chart can be exported to Microsoft Project format. This option is not available for reports.

1. Open the sheet you want to export.
2. On the toolbar, switch the sheet to Gantt View. 
3. Select File > Export > Export to MS Project to download the sheet in XML format.
4. To import the XML file, open Microsoft Project.

Because Smartsheet and Microsoft Project differ in their functionality, the exported sheet may display differently in either application. In these cases, you may want to copy data from one program and paste it into the other using keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V (Windows) or Command+C and Command+V (macOS).

Export to PDF

To export a sheet or a report to PDF format, select File > Export > Export to PDF. 

When exporting a sheet or a report to PDF format, you can set up its layout, and choose which columns to include.

In the Options section of the PDF Setup form, you can’t choose which columns to include in the PDF file if your sheet or report isn’t in Gantt View. Learn more about printing a sheet or report from Smartsheet.