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T
Tini1
August 2, 2022
Question

Exporting reports to Excel

  • August 2, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 1 view

I need to export several P&Ls to Excel.  The first one exported without a hitch.  Tried to do another one and got this message:  "Excel allows 256 columns in a worksheet.  This report has 7 columns (6 row title columns + 1 data columns).  Use Customize to change the number of columns in this report".

 

Customize only allows me to ADD columns.  It worked ONCE.  Why not again?

 

Edit: I have closed QB and re-started the PC - to no avail.

2 replies

A
AileneAModerator
Moderator
August 2, 2022

Hello, Tini1. 

 

I'll make sure you'll be able to customize to add columns when exporting reports to excel. 

  

I appreciate you for letting us know about the steps you've tried to resolve this issue. Don't worry, we will work on this together. 

 

Let's ensure your QuickBooks Desktop is up to date. Then if the same things happen, Let's go ahead and utilize the Verify and Rebuild Data tool that helps identify and repairs data issues within your company file.

 

To start, use the verify tool to scan your company file for errors or damage: 

 

  1. Go to the File menu.
  2. Choose Utilities. 
  3. Pick Verify Data.
  4. Click OK to close all windows. 

 

If you see the message “Your data has failed the integrity check”, rebuild your company file. If there are no problems with your data, you’re done.

 

To rebuild your data: 

 

  1. Go to the File menu.
  2. Choose Utilities. 
  3. Pick Rebuild Data.
  4. Click OK to close all windows. 
  5. QuickBooks will ask to make a backup before rebuilding your company file, select OK. If you don’t want to do a backup, select Cancel to continue rebuilding your company file.
  6. Press OK when done.

 

For more details about the Verify/Rebuild process, check this article: Verify and Rebuild Data in QuickBooks Desktop. 

 

If the same thing happens after verifying rebuild, you might want to contact our customer support team so they can look into your account. They have the resources and help you with it.  

 

Please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with. I'm more than happy to work with you.

T
Tini1Author
August 4, 2022

The suggested solutions did not work, but I found a work-around.  Kind of a pain as I had 24 P&Ls to export.  Here's what worked:

 

Make sure Excel is closed. Create the report in QuickBooks, open Excel, then go back to the report to export.  Close Excel.  Create report, open Excel, export.  Rinse and repeat.

T
TectronAcct
November 2, 2022

I found that Excel was the issue, if you close all excel worksheets, then QB will not think that you are over reaching the limit of columns. Meaning if you have 4 workbooks open, QB thinks it is all on one report and will not allow more on that report. Close all and retry. Works.

A
AbegailS_
Level 6
November 2, 2022

Hi there, @TectronAcct.

 

Thanks for sharing to us the workaround steps you’ve done. This information will also help other customers who are encountering the same issue.

 

Let me know if you have other questions. I'm here to help however I can.

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