Can only export a report to Excel as CSV

Sending good vibes to you, Al Borland. Let's get these options available for you.

You will only get the Create a comma separated values (.csv) file option when the local Excel installation is damaged. Some of the common reasons for this problem are listed below:

• Excel is not installed on your computer.
• Excel is installed across a network.
• Wrong installation of Excel.

To get this sorted out, as an initial step, updating the QuickBooks Desktop release version is a good start when it comes to fixing exporting-related issues. Here's how:

1. Click Help at the top menu bar and select Update QuickBooks Desktop.
2. Go to the Update Now tab. Tip: You can select the Reset Update checkbox to clear all previous update downloads.
3. Select Get Updates to start the download.
4. When the download finishes, restart QuickBooks.
5. Accept the option to install the new release.
   

Once updated, you can go back to your report and see if you're able to select the other three (3) options.

However, if you're still getting the same result, you can go through this article and proceed to Step 2: Fix export to Excel issues in QuickBooks Desktop.

This should keep you moving today, Al Borland. Don't hesitate to let me know if I can be of additional assistance while working in QuickBooks. I'm always here to keep helping. Have a good one!

I had the same problem and tried updating and reinstalling QB. Turned out it was Microsoft. I use Office 2016 and I had to do an online repair from Apps and features, which fixed the problem. The quick repair option did not fix the problem. Be sure to write down your Office key code as it asked for it after the repair.

You can also try using Skyvia to automate exports. This might give you more flexibility in getting the data into Excel in the format you need, without running into those grayed-out options.