How to Export CRM Data to Excel
Getting your sales and customer data out of your CRM and into a spreadsheet is a common need for anyone looking to build custom reports, mash up data from different sources, or perform a deep-dive analysis. This guide provides clear, step-by-step instructions for exporting data from popular CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce and offers practical tips for making that data useful once you have it in Excel.
Why Export CRM Data to Excel?
While modern CRMs have powerful built-in reporting, sometimes you just need the raw data in a flexible environment like Excel or Google Sheets. Here are a few common reasons why exporting is still a go-to move for many sales and marketing professionals:
Deeper, Custom Analysis: Excel’s PivotTables, complex formulas, and scenario analysis tools allow you to slice and dice your data in ways that might not be possible in your CRM’s reporting builder. You can ask very specific questions and visualize the answers exactly how you want.
Merging with Other Data: Your CRM holds sales activity, but your finances might be in QuickBooks and your ad performance in Google Ads. Exporting allows you to bring all these datasets together in one spreadsheet to see the full picture - for instance, connecting ad spend directly to closed-won deals.
Data Cleaning and Tidying: It's often easier to spot and fix inconsistencies in a spreadsheet. You can quickly find duplicate contacts, standardize job titles, or format phone numbers in bulk before potentially re-importing the cleaned data back into your CRM.
Archiving and Snapshots: An export creates a static snapshot of your data at a specific point in time. This is invaluable for creating quarterly performance reviews, preserving historical records, or comparing pipeline health month-over-month without worrying about live data changing.
Sharing with Stakeholders: Not everyone in your organization needs a CRM license. Exporting data to a universally-accessible format like Excel makes it simple to share performance updates with leadership, finance, or other departments who don't work in the CRM daily.
How to Export Data from Popular CRMs
The exact steps for exporting data vary slightly by platform, but the general concept is the same: find the data you want, choose an export option, and save the file. Here’s how it works in a couple of the most popular CRMs.
Exporting Data from HubSpot
HubSpot lets you export data about any of your core objects, including contacts, companies, deals, and tickets. The process is based on an "export view," meaning what you see on the screen is what you'll get in your file.
Navigate to Your Data: Log in to your HubSpot account. In the main navigation, go to Contacts, Companies, Deals, or another object list page.
Filter Your View (Optional but Recommended): This is a crucial step to avoid exporting thousands of unnecessary records. Use the filter options at the top of the table to narrow down the data to exactly what you need. You might filter for leads created in the last quarter, deals assigned to a specific rep, or companies in a certain industry. Save this as a new view if you plan to reuse it.
Begin the Export: In the upper right corner of the table, find the "Table actions" (or similar) button and click it. From the dropdown menu, select "Export view."
Configure Your Export File: A dialog box will pop up with several options:
File format: Choose what you need. XLSX is the best option for modern versions of Excel. CSV is more universal but loses formatting, and XLS is for older Excel versions.
Include: You can choose to export only the properties (columns) currently in your view, or you can select "All properties" to get every single data point for the records in your view. It's often best to start with "Properties in view" to keep your file clean.
Download Your File: After confirming your settings, HubSpot will process the export. For security and to manage large files, it doesn't download instantly. Instead, you'll receive an email with a secure download link. Click the link in the email to download your file.
Exporting Data from Salesforce
Salesforce's robust reporting engine is the primary way to get your data out of the platform. Instead of exporting a view, you’ll be exporting a report you've built.
Go to the Reports Tab: Log in to Salesforce and navigate to the "Reports" tab from the navigation bar.
Choose or Create a Report: You can either open an existing report that contains the data you need or click "New Report." Creating a report first is the best way to pre-filter and organize your data before it ever leaves Salesforce. Select a Report Type (e.g., "Opportunities" or "Leads") and add filter criteria to isolate the data, like Close Date for the current quarter or Lead Status.
Run the Report: Once you're in the report builder, make sure all the columns you want are visible. Run the report to see the results.
Click the Export Button: In the top-right corner of the report view, you'll see a small dropdown arrow next to the "Edit" button. Click it and select "Export."
Choose Your Export Format: Salesforce gives you a couple of key options:
Formatted Report (.xlsx): This export maintains the look and feel of your Salesforce report, including headers, groupings, and summaries. It's great for ready-to-share summaries but not ideal for raw data analysis.
Details Only (.csv or .xlsx): This is the one you’ll use most often. It gives you a clean, flat file of your raw data - just rows and columns - perfect for importing into another tool or for analysis in Excel. Choose .xlsx for the best experience in Excel.
Complete the Export: Select your preferred format and file encoding (UTF-8 is almost always the right choice). Click "Export," and the file will download directly to your computer.
Quick Tip for Salesforce Admins: For full data backups, Salesforce has a "Data Export" tool in Setup that lets you schedule weekly or monthly exports of all your organization's data.
Best Practices for Working with Exported Data in Excel
Once you have the file, the work has just begun. Here’s how to set yourself up for a smooth and productive analysis session in Excel.
1. Save a "Raw Data" Master Copy
Before you touch anything, the very first thing you should do is save a copy of the exported file. Open your downloaded file and immediately go to File > Save As and rename it something like "[Report Name] - Working Copy". This protects your original export, giving you a clean, untouched version to go back to if a formula goes wrong or you delete something by mistake.
2. Format as a Table (Ctrl + T)
This is the most important first step for analysis. Click any cell within your data set and press Ctrl + T on Windows or Cmd + T on a Mac. This simple command turns your range of data into an official Excel Table.
Why is this so important?
Easy Filtering and Sorting: Tables automatically add filter dropdowns to each column header.
Clear Formatting: Alternating row colors (banded rows) make the data much easier to read.
Formulas are Simpler: When you write a formula in one cell of a column, it can automatically fill down for the entire column.
Charts Update Automatically: When you add new rows of data to your table, any charts based on that table will update automatically.
3. Clean Your Data First
Don’t start calculating until your data is clean. Messy data leads to wrong answers. Spend a few minutes on these key tasks:
Remove Duplicates: Go to the Data tab and use the Remove Duplicates tool to check for any repeated rows.
Find and Fix Blanks: Use the filter dropdown on a column header to filter for "(Blanks)". Decide if those records should be removed or if the missing information needs to be filled in.
Standardize Your Text: Inconsistent capitalization ("USA," "usa") can throw off your reports. Use functions like
=TRIM()to remove extra spaces and=PROPER()to fix capitalization in a helper column.
Top Excel Functions for CRM Data Analysis
With your data clean and structured as a table, you can now use some of Excel's powerful functions to uncover insights.
PivotTables: Your Most Powerful Tool
A PivotTable is the easiest way to summarize large datasets. You can create one from the Insert tab.
Example: You want to see which lead source generates the most revenue. Drag the "Lead Source" field to the Rows area of the PivotTable builder, and drag the "Deal Amount" field to the Values area. Instantly, you'll have a summary table showing total revenue by source.
SUMIFS and COUNTIFS
These functions let you sum or count data based on one or more criteria. They are perfect for building summary dashboards.
Example: To count how many "Closed Won" deals were handled by Jane Doe:
=COUNTIFS(Table1[Status], "Closed Won", Table1[Owner], "Jane Doe")
Example: To calculate the total value of all "Closed Won" deals handled by Jane Doe:
=SUMIFS(Table1[Amount], Table1[Status], "Closed Won", Table1[Owner], "Jane Doe")
XLOOKUP (or VLOOKUP)
Use XLOOKUP to combine data from different tabs or files. For instance, if you have one export of deals and another of company records, you can use XLOOKUP to pull the "Industry" field from the company sheet into your deal sheet, allowing you to report on revenue by industry.
Example: Pull the industry for a specific company into your deals report.
=XLOOKUP([@[Deal Company ID]], Companies[Company ID], Companies[Industry])
Final Thoughts
Exporting your CRM data to Excel is a fantastic way to gain deeper, more personalized insights that go beyond your CRM's standard dashboards. Whether you're combining datasets, performing a quick cleanup, or diving deep with PivotTables, this process puts the full power of spreadsheet analysis in your hands.
The manual cycle of downloading CSVs, cleaning them up, and building reports takes time, especially as a recurring weekly task. We built Graphed to eliminate this repetitive work. Instead of manually exporting and importing files, you can connect your HubSpot, Salesforce, and other data sources directly. We make it easy to create real-time, shareable dashboards using simple conversational language, so you can spend less time wrangling data and more time acting on it.