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JanyRoseB
QuickBooks Team

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Thanks for getting back to the QuickBooks Community, dso0216.

 

Allow me to step in for a moment and help fix the error you're getting when exporting reports from QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) to Excel.

 

Generally, the Excel cannot open the data file error message can be resolved by restarting the computer. Here's how:

  1. Restart the computer.
  2. Open QuickBooks.
  3. Access the report and export to Excel. 

If the issue persists, let's update your QuickBooks to the latest release. This will help you download the changes, improvements, and fixes that were made to QuickBooks. Here's how:

  1. Go to the Help menu at the top, then pick Update QuickBooks Desktop on the drop-down.
  2. Select the Update Now tab, then check the box next to Reset Update.
  3. Click Get Updates.

For additional reference, you can check this article: Update to the latest release of QuickBooks Desktop.

 

Next, let's run the verify and rebuild data in QuickBooks Desktop utility. This tool will fix any errors it can find and notify you of anything that needs to be manually corrected​.

 

Once done, try to export your report again to Excel. If you're still getting the same results, you can repair QuickBooks Desktop to fix program-related issues or errors.

 

If you need further assistance with the steps, I recommend contacting our QuickBooks Desktop Support Team. They have the tools to pull up your account and do a remote session.

 

Here's how you can contact our technical support:

  1. Select QuickBooks Desktop Help from the Help menu.
  2. You can also press F1 on your keyboard to bring up the same Help Panel
  3. In order to route you to the correct support expert, we need to know what type of question you have.
  4. Click Continue.
  5. We’ll provide you a few options. You choose which one is best for you.

That should get you fixed right up! Please know that I'm just a post away if you have additional concerns about exporting report to excel. Have a good one. 

VassiliTN
Level 2

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

I believe I got this one figured out today. Putting together my own experience and what I saw others post online what I believe it is is that Quickbooks simply doesn't work with 64-bit version of Excel.

 

What made me extremely frustrated is that I believe that Intuit knows about this bug but will not acknowledge it, nor will it authorize the phone support to tell the customers about it. I spent over an hour on the phone doing pointless repairs and updates when I believe the phone rep knew from the beginning what was going on but because of the company policy was not allowed to directly tell me. After spending all that time on the phone and reading different online posts about the same problem I was able to figure out what to do from what she was not telling me. Basically I just had to uninstall 64-bit version of Office and install 32-bit version, that's all, no updates or repairs necessary, it works with 32-bit version and doesn't work with 64-bit version, that's all there is to it.

 

Intuit/community admins please understand that I am not trying to put down the phone representative who diligently and to the best of her ability honestly tried to help. What I am saying that while my overall long-term experience with Quickbooks has been very much a positive one and while generally I had very good experience when I needed tech support this is an example of poor customer service. If you can't fix a bug at least put up some kind of notice about it and don't waste our time!

MaryLandT
Moderator

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Greetings, @VassiliTN.

 

I want to thank you for taking the time to share the solution on exporting a report to Excel. This will surely help others who might have the same issue.

 

I may haven't personally experienced what you've gone through, but know that you have the right to be heard and I'm here listening to you. 

 

Rest assured I'll pass along your feedback here on my end. Please let me know if there's anything else you need, I'll do my best to help you out.

 

You might find the system requirements of QuickBooks Desktop helpful for the version of your QuickBooks account. I recommend checking out these articles to ensure your computer meets the requirements:

Thanks for your patience. Take care always.

dso0216
Level 6

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

What I find curious though is excel was working with the 64-bit version (in my case at least) up until ~month ago.

Charies_M
Moderator

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Hello there, dso0216.

 

Allow me to provide additional troubleshooting option that can help you export report to excel successfully.

 

If you've recently update your Excel version, you can revert the update. If you're not sure on how to this, I recommend seeking help from your IT professional or get in touch with Microsoft technical support. They can help you in reverting Excel updates.

 

If doing this doesn't work, I recommend contacting QuickBooks Customer Care so they can take a closer look and conduct a deeper investigation on what's causing the error.

 

Be sure to keep in touch with me here should you have any additional questions or concerns. I'm always here to help.

DebraP
Level 1

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

I tweaked instructions for another error and it worked for this one!  Save and close any open Excel files.  Use CTRL-ALT-DEL and select the Task Manager.  Under the Processes tab, look for instances of Excel.exe and select End Process.  This should allow you to export your file from QuickBooks to Excel without rebooting your computer or shutting down QuickBooks.

Cyborg
Level 1

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Restarting did not work. Here is my computer setup. 

 

64Gig should be more than enough memory. An I9 processor also

MaryGraceS
Moderator

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Hi there, @Cyborg.

 

Thanks for letting me know what troubleshooting step you've tried to export the report. Let's get this working to get you back on track.

 

First, let's check if the Excel you have is compatible with the version of QuickBooks you're using. I recommend checking the following article to see the software compatibility: QuickBooks Desktop system requirements.

 

Technically, restarting the computer can resolve unexpected behavior with exporting the report to Excel. Since you get the same result, can you confirm if you already tried the steps provided by DebraP? When the Excel cannot open the data file exported, closing the excel.exe can do the tricks. 

 

If you're still receiving the issue, let's make sure you have an active and up-to-date version of QuickBooks. Then, try to repair QuickBooks and run a Detect and Repair for Microsoft Office to fix possible damaged files. 

 

After that, restart your computer, then open QuickBooks. Please try to export the report again. 
 

Give this a try and let me know how it goes. I want to make sure everything is working on your end.  If you need further assistance working with QuickBooks, please leave a comment below. I'm always here to help. Wishing you the best!

dso0216
Level 6

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Debra P,

Definitely going to try that one when I'm at my client site tomorrow.  So far they've not gotten the file to work with excel.  

dso0216
Level 6

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Rasa-LilaM
QuickBooks Team

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Thanks for joining this thread, dso0216.


I appreciate letting us know that you’ve already contacted our Technical Support about the issue and its result.


Since your client can export the report using another computer, we’ll have to check how the Excel is installed on the device. The way the software is lodge also affects how it works.


I suggest reaching out to our Technical Support again since they have tools to configure the software’s setup. For your convenience, you can either choose to chat with a support agent or arrange a callback.

 

With our support team's help, you should be able to export Excel to all computers.

 

Please let me know how it goes after contacting them. I want to make sure this is taken care of.

kajalkhatri
Level 2

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Infact I am getting this issue as well when I export report. It says "We found problem with some of contents of the file. DO you want to recover as much possible and it goes on repair mode. Though Excel's Automatic feature repairs it. I was wondering why this happens and is there any way to solve this.

Tell, if you found out something that helps.

Thanks.

GraceC
QuickBooks Team

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Hello there, @kajalkhatri.

 

Let's update your QuickBooks to its latest release. This will help you download the changes, improvements, and fixed that were made in QuickBooks. 

 

Here's how:

  1. Go to the Help menu at the top, then pick Update QuickBooks Desktop on the drop-down.
  2. Select the Update Now tab, then check the box next to Reset Update.
  3. Click Get Updates.

Next, let's run the verify and rebuild data in QuickBooks Desktop utility. To fix any errors it can find and notify you of anything that needs to be manually corrected​.

 

To run the Verify and Rebuild utility, here's how:

  1. Go to the File menu at the top.
  2. Click Utilities on the drop-down menu.
  3. Select Verify Data.
  4. Once done, go back to Utilities, then click Rebuild Data.

Once done, try to export your report again to Excel. If the issue persists, you can repair QuickBooks Desktop to fix program-related issues or errors.

 

Feel free to reach out to us if there's anything else you need help with QuickBooks.

kajalkhatri
Level 2

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Thanks for responding but I am using Quickbooks Online. I believe its updated directly?

ShiellaGraceA
QuickBooks Team

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Thanks for responding, kajalkhatri.

 

I have more steps we can try to fix errors when exporting reports to Excel. Let me share them with you so you can get started.

 

To begin with our troubleshooting steps, let's uninstall and reinstall Excel. This way, we can identify if it has something to do with your Excel program or not.

 

Once you're done, open your QBO account and export your report again.

 

If you're getting the same result, please contact our Customer Care Support so we can further investigate and create a case for you.

 

In the meantime, you can use a different program like Google Sheets to open your workbook.

 

I've also got this article about memorizing reports in case you need some.

 

Please let me know in the comment section below if you have other questions. I'd be glad to help. Enjoy the rest of the day.

kajalkhatri
Level 2

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

I actually tried this export thing of same report on 2 different desktops and results were same. So, I don't think so its something to do Excel on my system. I think I will have to jump to second step to contact customer care.

bajake
Level 1

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

zI have dont all the aforementioned steps and get the same result

 

updated program, rebooted program.. etc.

 

same 

BettyJaneB
QuickBooks Team

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Hi there, @bajake.

 

I appreciate you for performing the steps above to help fix this issue. Since none of these works for you, I recommend contacting our Customer Care Team. They can run a remote-viewing session to investigate the root cause of this matter and provide a resolution.

 

To reach them:

  1. Go to the Help menu.
  2. Choose QuickBooks Desktop Help.
  3. Tap the Contact us button. 

 

To guide you in exporting reports in QuickBooks in the future, please see this link: Export reports as Excel workbooks in QuickBooks Desktop

 

If there's anything else that I can help you with, please let me know in the comment section down below. I'll be always around ready to help.

slowbooks_skyrider_jamie
Level 1

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

While still not optimal, this is better than "turn it off, turn it on"

mjami
Level 3

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

I installed excel 2007 and it fixed the problem I was having .

 

Candice C
QuickBooks Team

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Hey, @mjami.

 

I'm glad to hear that installing Excel 2007 helped to resolve this issue.

 

If you have any questions you'd like to ask, just let me know. I'm always here to lend a helping hand.

 

 

 

 

 

Raeann1965s
Level 1

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

I restarted and i'ts still not working

Raeann1965s
Level 1

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Restarting did not work 

ChristieAnn
QuickBooks Team

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

 Hi there, Raeann1965s.

 

I appreciate you for performing some steps to resolve the issue. Since you're still unable to export reports, I suggest contacting our QuickBooks Support Team. They have the tools to figure out the cause of this problem. 

 

Here's how:

 

  1. Press F1 to open the Help window. 
  2. Click Contact us at the bottom part. 
  3. Give a brief description of your issue and click Continue
  4. Choose from Message an Agent or Talk to a Specialist.

 

To see a visual reference on how to contact support, you can follow the steps given by colleague BettyJaneB.

 

Please check this article on how to customize the data, add or delete columns, and even personalize the font and style of different reports in QBDT: Customize reports in QuickBooks Desktop.

 

Please know that you're always welcome to post if you have any other concerns. Wishing you and your business continued success.

mjami
Level 3

Trying to export a Report to Excel. 'Excel cannot open the data file' error message. No problem with exporting .CSV file. How can I fix this?

Download an older version of Excel,  I put Office 2007 on my computer and have not had any problems ,since.. you could probably use Office 2016 .I believe Microsoft 365 causes great problems with the exporting part of QB

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