Quickbooks Desktop error when exporting to Excel not coherent

This can be puzzling, Nonprofit24. This message appears if the exported report has more than 256 columns. Your report shows 7 columns only.

Although, the spaces between columns can be a factor why you encounter it. I'll help you remove them. 

Here's how:

1. Click Excel, then select Create New Worksheet.
2. In the Send Report to Excel window, click Advanced.
3. Uncheck the Space between columns box.
4. Click OK.
5. Select Create new worksheet, then click in a new workbook.
6. Click Export. 

You can refer to my screenshot below. 

You can also save the report as a CSV file instead. This will provide you more columns. Here's how:

1. Click Excel, then select Create New Worksheet.
2. Select Create a comma separated values (.csv) file.
3. Click Export. 

I'll add the article about exporting reports as Excel workbooks in QuickBooks Desktop for better guidance. 

If there's anything else that I can do for you, just tag me and I'll personally get back to you. 

I am getting this error when trying to export any report to Excel.  I am using MS Excel 2007.  I recently upgraded my computer to Windows 10 and Quickbooks 2020.  Where I was able to export without problem in Quickbooks 2019, it no longer works in 2020.

I don't want to export every report into a .csv file as it will lose the formatting.  I don't allow extra spaces between the columns.  I would say there is something different in 2020 that is not working with older versions of Excel.

Welcome to this conversation, @dmilner59. I appreciate you for sharing more detailed information about your concern. 

To clarify, QuickBooks 2020 only supports the following Microsoft Office: 

• Office 2019 (Compatible with R3 and later)
• Office 2016 (including Outlook 2016) both on 32 and 64-bit.
• Office 2010 SP2, Office 2013 and 365 (including Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2013) both on 32 and 64 bit.Note: Office 365 is only supported when it is locally installed, not the web version.

In your case, I'd suggest you upgrade your Microsoft Office to any of the criteria listed above. Check out this article for more information: System requirements for QuickBooks 2020 and Enterprise Solutions 20.0.

For future reference, read through this topic: Release notes for QuickBooks Desktop 2020. It helps you learn about the latest updates and improvements in QuickBooks. 

Feel free to message again if you have any more questions. We're always here to assist you further.

I don't think you are understanding the issue.  I've encountered similar QB errors over the past months .. and am facing the same again. 

If I pick a standard QB report (for example this quarter's balance sheet with show previous period selected) and attempt to export to excel I get an error "Excel allows 256 columns in a worksheet.  This report has 8 columns (6 row title columns + 2 data columns)  Use "Customize" to change the number of columns in this report.  In the past this error would occur on some reports but not all ... today, after accepting the latest upgrade it is with all reports.

Again, this is a canned QB report.  

Environment QB Enterprise 20.0

Office 365 MSO (16.0.14026.20202) 32 bit

I think this is a QB bug.  I just updated and can't even export a standard BS without getting the "Excel allows 256 columns in a worksheet ..." error message.

I've tried your work around of getting rid of spaces between columns without any success.

Hello, EdVS. 

I appreciate your time doing the suggested steps above. I'll share some solutions to help you fix the 256 column issue when exporting a report. 

The column issue might also be caused by Excel itself (limitations from earlier versions).

Before doing anything else, ensure you're using the latest version of Excel. You can check Microsoft's support channels if you need help. 

The issue can be caused by several reasons. One common example is that there's a damaged report component in QuickBooks. You'll want to run the Tool Hub utility to fix this:

1. Download and run the latest QuickBooks Tool Hub version.
2. Open and run the installer.
3. After installing, run the Tool Hub. 
4. Click the Program issues tab, then follow the prompts to start the troubleshooting steps. 

Another way to resolve this is to repair your QuickBooks Desktop program: Repair your QuickBooks Desktop for Windows. 

However if it still gives you the same error, I'd recommend calling our support. They can check investigate what's causing the issue and report it to our engineers. Here's how to reach them: 

1. In QuickBooks Desktop, press the F1 key.
2. On the Have a question? window, click the Contact Us link. 
3. In the box, enter something like "experiencing the 256 column issue when exporting to Excel."
4. Click Continue, then choose how you want to reach us. 

Need to manage your inventory after fixing the issue? The articles here can help you out: QuickBooks Enterprise Set up inventory topic. 

I'll be around to help you out again if you have more questions about your reports. If you're ready to tackle other tasks, please let me know and I'll assist you. 

Hopefully my reply posts, quickbooks forums dont seem to allow any correct answers to be posted.  Excel has very minor bug where you cant open another excel file unles you clock on a cell in an excel file you already have open.  You can sit thre for 5min and nothing will open, but when you click in a cell of an open worksheet, the one you want to open will open up like clockwork.

I had your same issue, even a report I just pulled, it wouldnt let me open again.  I clicked on a cell in the report I had open, went back to QB to pull the failed reports, and finally I could pull a report with no errors.