# Exporting

In this chapter we'll have a look at how we can export data. The source of the data and the presentational side of things, will be explained in next chapters.

# TLDR;

1 Exports can be downloaded or stored

Using Excel::download() or Excel::store() the data can be exported to a spreadsheet.

2 Facade, exportables, collection macro's and dependency injection

Pick and choose any of those techniques to your own preference or coding standards.

3 Exporting to other formats

While the main focus on the package is xlsx, other types like xls and pdf are supported as well.

# Export objects

To get started with exports, you'll need to have an export object.

Export classes can be created via the following artisan command:

php artisan make:export UsersExport --model=User
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namespace App\Exports;

use App\User;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\FromCollection;

class UsersExport implements FromCollection
{
    public function collection()
    {
        return User::all();
    }
}
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# Multiple sheets

By default, an Export writes to a single sheet. To allow the export to have multiple sheets, the WithMultipleSheets concern should be used. The sheets() method expects an array of sheet export objects to be returned.

namespace App\Exports;

use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\WithMultipleSheets;

class UsersExport implements WithMultipleSheets
{
    public function sheets(): array
    {
       return [
            new Sheets\UsersSheet(),
            new Sheets\AdminsSheet(),
       ];
    }
}
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namespace App\Exports\Sheets;

use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\WithTitle;

class AdminsSheet implements FromCollection, WithTitle
{
    public function collection()
    {
        return User::where('is_admin', true)->get();
    }

    public function title(): string
    {
        return 'Admins';
    }
}
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# Ways of exporting

Laravel Excel offers several ways of exporting the spreadsheet. In the first examples we'll use the facade technique, in later parts of this chapter other techniques will also be explained.

Make sure to import the class use Maatwebsite\Excel\Facades\Excel at the top of your file. For brevity this step will not be repeated in each example.

# Downloading

A very common way of exporting a spreadsheet, is by directly downloading it after it's being created. This is only recommend for small exports.

return Excel::download(new UsersExport, 'users.xlsx');
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The download method requires an export object and a filename including a file extension. Optionally the writer type can be passed as third parameter.

Make sure to always return the download response to the controller/route.

# Storing

Excel::store(new UsersExport, 'users.xlsx');
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Excel::store(new UsersExport, 'users.xlsx', 's3');
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Excel::store(new UsersExport, 'users.xlsx', 's3', null, [
    'visibility' => 'private',
]);
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# Raw

If you want to receive the raw contents of the exported file for API's or mail attachments, you can use the ::raw method.

$contents = Excel::raw(new UsersExport, 'users.xlsx');
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# Export techniques

Laravel Excel offers several techniques to call the export. You can pick any of the following techniques, based on your own preferences or coding standards.

# Facade

return Excel::download(new UsersExport, 'users.xlsx');
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# Exportables

Laravel Excel provides a Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\Exportable trait, to make export classes exportable.

namespace App\Exports;

use App\User;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\Exportable;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\FromCollection;

class UsersExport implements FromCollection
{
    use Exportable;

    public function collection()
    {
        return User::all();
    }
}
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Instead of using the facade, you can now chain methods like download and store directly to the export object.

return (new UsersExport)->download('users.xlsx');
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# Responsables

The previous (download) example can be made even shorter when adding Laravel's Responsable interface to the export class:

namespace App\Exports;

use App\User;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Support\Responsable;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\FromCollection;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\Exportable;

class UsersExport implements FromCollection, Responsable
{
    use Exportable;
    
    /**
    * It's required to define the fileName within
    * the export class when making use of Responsable.
    */
    private $fileName = 'users.xlsx';
    
    /**
    * Optional Writer Type
    */
    private $writerType = Excel::XLSX;
    
    /**
    * Optional headers
    */
    private $headers = [
        'Content-Type' => 'text/csv',
    ];

    public function collection()
    {
        return User::all();
    }
}
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Within your controller you can now, just return the Export class and it will internally trigger the download response.

return new UsersExport();
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# Dependency injection

use Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel;

public function export(Excel $excel)
{
    return $excel->download(new UsersExport, 'users.xlsx');
}
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# Macro's and Mixins

# Collection

On Eloquent model collections and custom collections, custom macro's called downloadExcel and storeExcel can be called. Different from the previous documented methods is that these exports do not require an export object.

These macro's will export the data in the collection as is. If you need to process the data before exporting, please use an export object.

return User::all()->downloadExcel('users.xlsx');
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return (new Collection([
    [1, 2, 3], 
    [1, 2, 3]
]))->downloadExcel('my-collection.xlsx');
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return $collection->storeExcel('my-collection.xlsx');
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# Queries

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

User::query()->where('name', 'Patrick')->downloadExcel('query-download.xlsx');
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If you want to include header row, you can pass true as third parameter:

User::query()->where('name', 'Patrick')->downloadExcel('query-download.xlsx', Excel::XLSX, true);
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Similarly, you can store the results of a query:

User::query()->where('name', 'Patrick')->storeExcel('query-store.xlsx', 'your-disk');
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# Writer types

While the main focus on the package is Excel (xlsx) spreadsheets, other types are supported as well. These writer types can be either passed as file extension or as explicit writer type:

The following will detect the writer type based on the extension:

Excel::download(new UsersExport, 'users.xls');
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The following will detect the writer type based on the explicit writer type

Excel::download(new UsersExport, 'users.xls', \Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel::XLS);
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The following extensions are supported:

File extension Writer type
xlsx Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel::XLSX
xls Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel::XLS
csv Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel::CSV
tsv Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel::TSV
ods Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel::ODS
html Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel::HTML
pdf Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel::PDF

Exporting to PDF

If you'd like to export to PDF, you must now install a PDF rendering library yourself. Please refer to the PhpSpreadsheet Documentation (opens new window) for more information.

Warning: Large CSV's

If you want to export large datasets to CSV, it's advisable to use more memory efficient solutions like fputcsv directly.