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Version: Next

Exporting Dashboard Data to Excel

Superset can export every chart on a dashboard to a single Excel workbook, with each chart's underlying data rendered as its own worksheet. The export reflects the dashboard's currently applied filters and runs asynchronously: when it finishes, the requesting user receives an email with a time-limited download link.

Using the export​

From a dashboard, open the ... (actions) → Download submenu and choose Export Data to Excel. The action appears for users who have the dashboard can_export permission. You'll see a confirmation that the export is being prepared; the workbook arrives by email when it's ready.

Notes on the generated workbook:

  • One worksheet per chart, named {chart_id} - {chart title} (truncated to Excel's 31-character limit; the chart id keeps names unique).
  • Charts nested in tabs are included.
  • Data reflects the dashboard's active filter state at the time of export.
  • A chart with no saved query context is skipped and listed in the email; open the chart in Explore and re-save it to include it next time.
  • Row counts per sheet are capped the same way as the chart-level CSV/Excel export (ROW_LIMIT, bounded by SQL_MAX_ROW), and never exceed Excel's per-sheet maximum.

Prerequisites​

This feature is disabled by default. It requires:

  1. An S3 bucket. Set EXCEL_EXPORT_S3_BUCKET. Until it is set, the export endpoint returns 501 and the menu action surfaces a "not configured" message.
  2. A running Celery worker. The export runs as a Celery task. If no worker is running, the request is accepted but nothing is produced.
  3. A configured SMTP transport. The download link is delivered by email using the same settings as alerts & reports (SMTP_*, EMAIL_REPORTS_SUBJECT_PREFIX).

Deployments that override CELERY_CONFIG must add "superset.tasks.export_dashboard_excel" to the imports tuple, or the task will not register.

Configuration keys​

KeyDefaultDescription
EXCEL_EXPORT_S3_BUCKETNoneDestination bucket. Required; 501 if unset.
EXCEL_EXPORT_S3_KEY_PREFIX"dashboard-exports/"Key prefix: {prefix}{dashboard_id}/{job_id}.xlsx.
EXCEL_EXPORT_LINK_TTL_SECONDS86400Lifetime of the pre-signed download URL (24h).
EXCEL_EXPORT_S3_CLIENT_KWARGS{}Extra kwargs for boto3.client("s3", ...) — e.g. region_name, or endpoint_url for MinIO/LocalStack.

Credentials and region resolve through the standard boto3 chain (environment variables, shared config, or instance role) unless overridden via EXCEL_EXPORT_S3_CLIENT_KWARGS. The worker needs s3:PutObject on the bucket.

Security considerations​

  • The emailed link is a pre-signed S3 URL: anyone who holds it can download the workbook until it expires. Keep the bucket private, enable encryption, and consider a lifecycle rule to delete objects after a few days. Lower EXCEL_EXPORT_LINK_TTL_SECONDS if 24 hours is too long for your data.
  • The export runs with the requesting user's permissions; each chart's query is access-checked, so users only ever receive data they are entitled to.

Limitations​

  • Embedded dashboards / guest tokens are not supported in this version, because guest users have no email address to deliver the link to. Logged-in users viewing an embedded dashboard can still use the export.
  • Chart images and visual styling are not exported — data only.
  • Scheduled/automated exports are not part of this feature.