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Crystal Reports export to Excel: getting clean data instead of a formatted mess

Many business systems (ERPs, accounting, distribution and shop software) print their reports through Crystal Reports. Export one to Excel with the default settings and you get merged cells, blank columns and page headers everywhere. Here's how to get clean rows instead.

Updated October 21, 2026 · 8-minute read

The two kinds of Excel export

When you export from Crystal Reports (or from a system built on it), the format list usually has two kinds of Excel output. The exact names vary by version, but they look like this:

  • Microsoft Excel (97-2003): a page-faithful copy. It reproduces the printed layout, so you get merged cells, extra blank columns used for spacing, and page headers and footers repeated through the sheet. Good for viewing, bad for working with the numbers.
  • Microsoft Excel (97-2003) Data-Only and Microsoft Excel Workbook Data-Only (.xlsx): exports the data in rows and columns, with far less layout. This is almost always the one you want. Choose the Workbook version if your rows might exceed the old 65,536-row limit of .xls files.

If your system only offers "Excel" with no Data-Only choice, ask whoever administers it; the export options are often set by the application rather than by you.

The Data-Only options that matter

Data-Only exports have presets (often Typical, Minimal and Custom). Choose Custom to see the individual options. The ones that make the biggest difference:

  • Column width based on objects in the: set it to the Details section (the rows of data). Basing widths on the whole report lets titles and headers create extra columns.
  • Export page header and page footer: set to None or Once per report. Repeating them on each page puts the column titles back into the data every page.
  • Simplify page headers: keeps only the last line of a multi-line page header, which is usually the column titles.
  • Maintain relative object position and Maintain column alignment: try turning these off first if you get blank spacer columns. They try to reproduce the printed layout, which is what creates the gaps.
  • Export object formatting: leave it on if you want number and date formats carried over; turn it off for the plainest possible output.
  • Use worksheet functions for summaries: writes group totals as Excel SUM formulas instead of fixed numbers. Useful if you'll edit the data, but remember those total rows are still mixed in with the detail rows.

Fixing blank columns and shifted data in the report design

If you can edit the report in the Crystal Reports designer, blank columns almost always come from fields that don't line up exactly. Crystal makes a new Excel column wherever an object's left or right edge doesn't match the objects above and below it.

  1. Align each column's header and field to the same vertical guideline, or set the exact same left position in Size and Position (right-click the field).
  2. Make every object in a column the same width: select them, right-click, Size > Same Width.
  3. Remove or shrink decorative objects (lines, boxes, logos) in the sections that export.
  4. Avoid fields that overlap or sit slightly offset from the column they belong to.

When all you get is the PDF

Often you can't change the export, because the system only emails or prints a PDF, or the report is locked down. Then the job is getting a PDF report into Excel. Our step-by-step guides cover the options:

When the same report comes back every week

Even a clean Data-Only export is only the starting point. Someone still filters it, splits it, totals it and highlights the problems for the people who read it, every week.

Wheelbarrow takes the export or the PDF exactly as your system makes it, page headers, group totals and all. You describe the finished report in plain words, for example "only open lines, a tab per branch, totals by customer, red if past the promise date", and see it built from your own file before you pay. The tool you keep runs on your PC, even offline, and rebuilds the workbook from next week's report in seconds.

Rebuilding a Crystal report every week? See it built from your own export or PDF first. Try it with my files

Option names differ slightly between Crystal Reports versions and the applications that embed it. If you don't see an option, check your application's export settings or its administrator.

Questions

Why does my Crystal Reports export to Excel have blank columns?

The page-faithful Excel format reproduces the printed layout, using extra columns for spacing. Use a Data-Only format, base column widths on the Details section, and turn off Maintain relative object position. In the designer, line up and match the widths of objects in each column.

How do I stop page headers repeating in the Excel export?

In the Data-Only export options (Custom), set Export page header and page footer to None or Once per report, and optionally tick Simplify page headers.

What's the difference between Excel and Excel Data-Only in Crystal Reports?

Excel reproduces the report's printed look, merged cells and all. Data-Only exports the values in rows and columns with much less layout, which is what you want for sorting, filtering and formulas.

Can I get clean data if the system only gives me a PDF?

Yes. Excel for Microsoft 365 on Windows can import PDF tables with Get Data from PDF, then Power Query can remove repeated headers and page totals. For a report you rebuild every week, a tool built for that layout, like Wheelbarrow, turns each new PDF into the finished workbook.

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