How to Export ServiceNow Report to Excel

Getting your data out of ServiceNow and into a familiar format like Excel is a common need for deep analysis, custom charts, or just sharing updates with your team. This process lets you break free from the platform's native reporting to use the full power of spreadsheets. This guide will walk you through the different ways to export your ServiceNow data to Excel, from simple one-click report exports to handling large datasets like a pro.

Why Export ServiceNow Data to Excel in the First Place?

While ServiceNow's built-in dashboards are great for real-time monitoring, exporting data opens up a world of possibilities that are often easier to manage in a spreadsheet. The primary reasons teams rely on Excel exports include:

• Ad-Hoc Analysis: You can quickly build PivotTables, apply complex formulas, and slice and dice your data in minutes without having to create a new report in ServiceNow for every one-off question.
• Custom Visualizations: Excel offers a much wider range of charting options and formatting controls. If you need a specific type of chart for a presentation, Excel is often the fastest way to create it.
• Sharing with Outside Stakeholders: Not everyone on your team or in management has access to ServiceNow. Exporting a report to Excel creates a simple, universally accessible file you can email or share without worrying about user licenses or permissions.
• Data Archiving: An export provides a static, point-in-time snapshot of your data. This can be useful for historical record-keeping, trend analysis, or end-of-quarter performance reviews against a fixed dataset.

Method 1: Exporting an Existing ServiceNow Report

This is the most straightforward method and is perfect when you already have a report built in ServiceNow that you simply want to download for sharing or presentation. This method exports the report exactly as you see it, including charts, groupings, and styling.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Navigate to Your Report: Log in to your ServiceNow instance. In the Filter Navigator on the left, type "Reports" and click on Reports > View / Run.
2. Find and Open Your Report: Use the search bar to find the report you want to export. You can search under "My Reports," "Group," or "All." Click on the report title to open and run it.
3. Access the Export Options: Once the report has loaded, look for the context menu icon in the top-right corner of the report widget. This often looks like a down-arrow or vertical three-dot icon (the kebab menu).
4. Select Export to Excel: Click the icon to open a dropdown menu. Hover over Export and then select Excel (.xlsx). For some reports, you might simply click "Export" and then be given format options.

Your browser will then download an Excel file. When you open it, you'll see a formatted worksheet that mirrors the report you saw in ServiceNow. If the report included a chart and a data table, the Excel file will typically have the chart saved as an image along with the corresponding data underneath it.

What to Know About This Method

While quick and easy, this formatted export is designed more for visual presentation than for raw data crunching. The resulting Excel file often contains merged cells, color formatting, and sub-headers that can make it difficult to use with formulas or PivotTables without some tedious prior cleanup. This is the best option when the goal is to share a nicely formatted visual, not a dataset.

Method 2: Exporting Raw Data from a ServiceNow List View

For true data analysis, you need clean, unformatted data. Exporting directly from a list view is the best way to get it. This method gives you a perfect, flat table where each row is a record and each column is a field - ideal for use in PivotTables or as a data source for other tools.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Navigate to the List: Go to the table you want to extract data from. For example, if you want incident data, navigate to Incident > All in the Filter Navigator.
2. Apply Your Filters: This step is critical for performance and relevance. Use the filter menu (the funnel icon) to narrow down the records to exactly the dataset you need. You can filter by date, assignment group, status, priority, or any other field on the table. For instance, you could filter for [State] is Resolved and [Resolved] at or after Start of this Month.
3. Customize Your Columns: Click the gear icon in the top-left of the list header (the "Personalize list columns" icon). This allows you to add or remove columns from the view. Use the slushbucket to select fields like Created, Incident number, Short description, Caller, Assignment group, and Resolved. Ensure you have all the data points you need for your analysis.
4. Initiate the Export: Once your list is filtered and customized, right-click on any of the column headers (e.g., 'Number', 'Created', 'State'). This will open a context menu.
5. Choose the Excel Format: In the context menu, navigate to Export > Excel (.xlsx).

ServiceNow will prepare the export and download a clean Excel sheet. This file will contain only the raw data from the rows and columns visible in your filtered list view, with no formatting, merged cells, or charts.

Pro Tip: Filter Before You Export!

Direct exports from the UI often have a row limit, typically around 10,000 records. If you try to export a full, unfiltered table with hundreds of thousands of incidents, the process will time out or only grab the first 10,000. Applying filters first not only ensures you get the specific data you need but also keeps you within these limits and makes the export process much faster.

Advanced Techniques & Best Practices

Once you've mastered the basics, there are a few other techniques that can help you automate reporting and handle large datasets more efficiently.

Scheduling a Report to Export Automatically

If you find yourself running the same report every Monday morning and exporting it to email your team, you can automate this entire process. Scheduled reports can run on a set frequency and automatically distribute the output as an Excel attachment.

How to Set It Up:

1. Navigate to Reports > Scheduled Reports.
2. Click the New button to create a new scheduled job.
3. In the 'Report' field, select the report you want to schedule.
4. Configure the schedule in the 'Run' field (e.g., Daily, Weekly, Monthly) and specify the time.
5. In the 'Users' or 'Groups' fields, add the people who should receive the email.
6. Under the 'Type' field, ensure Excel (.xlsx) is selected.
7. Click Submit.

This "set it and forget it" approach saves hours of manual work and ensures stakeholders get consistent reports on time, every time.

Working with Large Datasets Above the Export Limit

What if you need to export 30,000 records? The 10,000-row UI limit can be a blocker. Here are two common workarounds:

• Export in Chunks: This is the simplest manual solution. Apply a filter that splits your data into manageable chunks below the limit. For example, if you need all incidents from last quarter, you could run three separate exports:
• Use Export Sets: (More for Admins) For massive, regularly occurring data dumps, the proper tool in ServiceNow is an Export Set. This administrative feature is designed for large-scale data transfers and can be configured to export hundreds of thousands of records to a MID Server, after which you can access the files. It's more complex to set up but is the most robust solution for enterprise-level data extraction.

Final Thoughts

Exporting data from ServiceNow to Excel is a fundamental skill for anyone needing to perform custom analysis or share information outside the platform. Using a direct report export is great for sharing a visual summary, while exporting from a filtered list view provides the clean, raw data needed for deep analysis with PivotTables. By scheduling reports, you can even automate the delivery of key business data.

Ultimately, processes like manually downloading CSVs every week are exactly the kind of repetitive tasks that eat up valuable time. We built Graphed to eliminate this pain by connecting directly to your tools like ServiceNow, Shopify, and Google Analytics. Instead of wrestling with exports, you can have all your key metrics in one live dashboard, automatically updated and ready for analysis. You just ask questions in plain English, and the reports build themselves.