---
url: https://docs.laravel-excel.com/3.1/exports/from-query.md
---
# From Query

\[\[toc]]

In the previous example, we did the query inside the export class.
While this is a good solution for small exports,
for bigger exports this will come at a hefty performance price.

By using the `FromQuery` concern, we can prepare a query for an export. Behind the scenes this query is executed in chunks.

In the `InvoicesExport` class, add the `FromQuery` concern and return a query. Be sure to **not** `->get()` the results!

```php
namespace App\Exports;

use App\Invoice;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\FromQuery;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\Exportable;

class InvoicesExport implements FromQuery
{
    use Exportable;

    public function query()
    {
        return Invoice::query();
    }
}
```

We can still download the export in the same way:

```php
return (new InvoicesExport)->download('invoices.xlsx');
```

## Customizing the query

It's easy to pass custom parameters to the query,
by simply passing them as dependencies to the export class.

### As constructor parameter

```php
namespace App\Exports;

use App\Invoice;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\FromQuery;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\Exportable;

class InvoicesExport implements FromQuery
{
    use Exportable;

    public function __construct(int $year)
    {
        $this->year = $year;
    }

    public function query()
    {
        return Invoice::query()->whereYear('created_at', $this->year);
    }
}
```

The year can now be passed as dependency to the export class:

```php
return (new InvoicesExport(2018))->download('invoices.xlsx');
```

### As setter

```php
namespace App\Exports;

use App\Invoice;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\FromQuery;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\Exportable;

class InvoicesExport implements FromQuery
{
    use Exportable;

    public function forYear(int $year)
    {
        $this->year = $year;
        
        return $this;
    }

    public function query()
    {
        return Invoice::query()->whereYear('created_at', $this->year);
    }
}
```

We can adjust the year by using the `forYear` method:

```php
return (new InvoicesExport)->forYear(2018)->download('invoices.xlsx');
```

### Macro's and Mixins

The Eloquent Builder/Model has a macro to directly download an Eloquent query to Excel.

```php
User::query()->where('name', 'Patrick')->downloadExcel('query-download.xlsx');
```

If you want to include header row, you can pass `true` as third parameter:

```php
User::query()->downloadExcel('query-download.xlsx', Excel::XLSX, true);
```

Similarly, you can store the results of a query:

```php
User::query()->storeExcel('query-store.xlsx', 'your-disk');
```