2 Simple Ways to Export Jira Data to Excel (+ Video Tutorial)
Jira is a wonderful tool perfect for tracking bugs, monitoring engineering work, and assigning tasks to team members. Sometimes, we need to take the work we do in Jira and reformat it to tell a story or deliver key information to stakeholders without overwhelming them with the Jira ecosystem. Thankfully, there are a couple of easy ways to export your Jira data to Excel.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- 5 limitations to consider when exporting a CSV file in Jira
- How to export more than 1000+ rows of data to a spreadsheet with Visor
- 2 options for exporting Jira data to a spreadsheet, with step-by-step guides
Why Export Jira Data to Excel?
Exporting your Jira data to Excel has many benefits. As powerful as Jira is, there are some things you simply can’t do in Jira or other things you might not want to. Here are some key benefits for taking your Jira data to Excel:
Gain insights and analyze data
Sometimes, you just need to see things differently. Our brain loves putting things into boxes, and that’s something Excel does exceptionally well. By exporting your Jira data to Excel, you are then able to leverage all the various strengths and formulas Excel has to offer in order to see and analyze your data differently.
Format your Jira data to tell a story
Jira is great for tracking tasks and progress on software projects, but occasionally, you need a little spice to turn that information into a story people can get behind. Seven completed Sprints don’t carry the same weight as “100s of tasks done” to someone who doesn’t know what a Sprint is. Taking your Jira data into something like Excel allows you to filter, format, and manipulate data in a way that tells the story you want to tell and shows just how impressive your progress is.
Share data with non-Jira users
Sharing Jira data with people who are unfamiliar with Jira or do not have a license is occasionally necessary. Exporting your Jira data to Excel allows you to share this information with people outside of your organization or even those internally who do not have a license or familiarity with Jira to get the most out of the data in the product itself.
5 Limitations to Consider When Exporting Jira Data to Excel
As crucial as the ability to export Jira data to Excel is, there are a few things to consider when choosing to do so. If the following constraints aren’t dealbreakers for you, then check out our guide for exporting a CSV in Jira in the following section of this article. However, if Jira’s built-in CSV export option is too limiting for your needs, then check out how to get your Jira data into a spreadsheet using Visor.
1. You can’t export more than 1000 rows of data in Jira
There is a limit to the amount of data you can export — 1000 rows of data. If you’re looking to export multiple projects or a larger dataset, remember that you might have to do more than one export and combine sheets to get the comprehensive overview you want.
2. You often lose sight of parent-child relationships
While the parent-child relationship visualization is great in Jira, these relationships are not visible on export. You will be able to see each exported issues type (Epic, Story, etc) but the actual nesting that occurs in Jira will not be present on your export. Each issue will surface the same way–as a row.
3. You might spend a lot of time cleaning up data
When exporting your data from Jira, you will see a spreadsheet with a lot of columns for fields that might be irrelevant to you. This might requires you to clean up your dataset before actually getting to work analyzing and formatting your data.
4. Data in your Excel spreadsheet can quickly turn stale
Unless you manually update the data in your spreadsheet to reflect changes in Jira, your exported Excel spreadsheet will quickly have stale data. Or you’ll have to create another export to have that changed data present. It will not happen automatically. This can cause confusion around what dataset is actually accurate.
5. Editing data in your spreadsheet won’t be reflected in Jira
If you make any changes to your data in Excel or CSV upon export, keep in mind that these changes won’t show up in Jira (unless you manually update Jira). This means you will likely be doing the work twice or risk having two conflicting data sets.
Option #1: Export a CSV File in Jira
Step 1: Get to the right spot in Jira
Go to the Search bar in the top-right corner of the screen. Scroll down and click “View all issues.”
Step 2: Select the Excel CSV export option
Jira allows you to select from multiple export options including XML, RSS (with and without comments), Word, HTML, CSV, and Excel CSV. For this how-to, select either “CSV” or “Excel CSV.” Both options export the data as a .csv file that is compatible with any spreadsheet program such as Numbers, Google Sheets, or Excel.
Step 3: Clean up your Jira data in the exported CSV file
You’ll notice that exporting your Jira data to a .csv only comes with the option to export all fields. This means that there will be several empty fields upon exporting your data that you might want to clean up. You can do this by mass-selecting columns, right-clicking, and selecting delete to get rid of the empty columns in most spreadsheet software. Holding Ctrl (Command for Mac) and selecting non-sequential columns to delete is also an option.
Bonus: Export Specific Fields With JQL
You might want to export a specific portion of your Jira data to Excel, like an individual sprint or your backlog. It’s simple using JQL! Go to the Search bar in the top-right corner of the screen. Scroll down and click “View all issues” as outlined in step one. Here, instead of heading straight to the Export button, you’ll drill down what data you’re looking for using Jira’s query language, JQL. You can sort issues by create date, label, assignee, and more!
Option #2: Export Jira Data in Visor
If you need to export 1000+ rows of Jira data into a spreadsheet or want a more automated way to keep your spreadsheet data in sync with Jira, then Visor’s spreadsheet is for you. Visor integrates with your Jira instance and brings your data into a flexible spreadsheet, which you can export into a CSV Excel file.
💡 You can also share your Jira data in Visor’s spreadsheet. Unlike a CSV file, Visor honors Jira nesting (e.g., parent/child relationship).
In addition, it’s easy to keep Visor’s spreadsheet updated with your most recent Jira data. Just hit Visor’s “Sync” button to pull in your most recent Jira data.
Step 1: Import your Jira data into Visor.
Visor’s Jira integration is easy to set up. You can choose a one-way sync (import-only) or a two-way sync. You can even import multiple projects at once using the advanced JQL importer.
Step 2: Search and select the fields you want to import & export
When exporting a CSV in Jira, you have to export all fields, even empty ones. Visor, on the other hand, lets your select from 70+ supported Jira fields, including custom fields. This allows you to avoid needing to clean up your data later.
Step 3: Export a CSV of your Jira in Visor
Once you have your data organized the way you like it, you’re able to reorder columns, deleted rows, and more so the only work you need to do once your data is exported is share it with the people who care.
Bonus: Avoid sharing outdated Jira data
Want to share a spreadsheet that stays in sync with your Jira data? Then share your data directly in Visor by simply clicking “Share” and entering an email address. Unlike Excel, Visor’s spreadsheet is designed to stay in sync with Jira.
Video Tutorial & Use Cases for Exporting Jira Data in Visor
Visor connects to Jira, allowing for users to share a spreadsheet that stays accurate without manual upkeep. However, you can also export your Visor spreadsheet to a CSV. Here are common use cases to export a CSV in Visor, along with a video tutorial.
Clean Up Data Before Exporting to Excel
Unlike a traditional Jira to Excel export, Visor lets you choose which fields you care about upon import. As you go through the import process, you’ll be able to search and select the fields that matter to you which means less data cleanup once you export.
Prioritize Your Backlog
Visor also allows you to drag and drop issues into a specific order once your data has been imported. This means you can use Visor to prioritize your backlog and have your data in the order you want it upon export. Exported data will be easier to clean up given your ability to organize issues in Visor.
1-Minute Video Tutorial
Ready to get started with Visor?
It’s free to get started with Visor. No credit card is needed. Import your Jira data into Visor today to format, visualize, edit, or share your Jira data.