Export Data to Excel with PHP and MySQL

In our previous tutorial, we have explained how to Import CSV File into MySQL using PHP. In this tutorial, we will explain How To Export Data to Excel with PHP and MySQL.

Previously we have published tutorial to Import CSV Data to MySQL with PHP and get huge response from our readers. Many of our users requested to also publish tutorial to export data to excel in PHP. Exporting data in Excel format is very useful feature to allow users to save data for offline use as the Excel format is the best format to store data in a file.

So in this tutorial you will learn how to export data to excel with PHP and MySQL. The tutorial explained in easy steps with live demo and link to download source code.

Also, read:

As we have covered this tutorial with live demo to export data to excel file with PHP and MySQL, so the file structure for this example is following.


  • index.php
  • export_data.php

Steps1: Create MySQL Database Table
First we will create MySQL database table developer using below query to display developers records and export data into excel file.

CREATE TABLE `developers` (
  `id` int(11) NOT NULL,
  `name` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
  `skills` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
  `address` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
  `gender` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
  `designation` varchar(255) NOT NULL,
  `age` int(11) NOT NULL,
  `image` varchar(255) NOT NULL
) ENGINE=InnoDB DEFAULT CHARSET=latin1;

Steps2: Get MySQL Data
We will get records from MySQL database table developers and store into an array to display records and export records into excel file.

include_once("db_connect.php");
$sql_query = "SELECT name, gender, address, designation, age FROM developers LIMIT 10";
$resultset = mysqli_query($conn, $sql_query) or die("database error:". mysqli_error($conn));
$developer_records = array();
while( $rows = mysqli_fetch_assoc($resultset) ) {
	$developer_records[] = $rows;
}	

Steps3: Create HTML and Display Records with Export Button
In index.php, we will create HTML and display records using records array. We will also create Form with export button to export data on form submit.

<div class="container">	
	<h2>Export Data to Excel with PHP and MySQL</h2>
	<div class="well-sm col-sm-12">
		<div class="btn-group pull-right">	
			<form action="<?php echo $_SERVER["PHP_SELF"]; ?>" method="post">					
				<button type="submit" id="export_data" name='export_data' value="Export to excel" class="btn btn-info">Export to excel</button>
			</form>
		</div>
	</div>				  
	<table id="" class="table table-striped table-bordered">
		<tr>
			<th>Name</th>
			<th>Gender</th>
			<th>Age</th>	
			<th>Designation</th>
			<th>Address</th>
		</tr>
		<tbody>
			<?php foreach($developer_records as $developer) { ?>
			   <tr>
			   <td><?php echo $developer ['name']; ?></td>
			   <td><?php echo $developer ['gender']; ?></td>
			   <td><?php echo $developer ['age']; ?></td>   
			   <td><?php echo $developer ['designation']; ?></td>
			   <td><?php echo $developer ['address']; ?></td>   
			   </tr>
			<?php } ?>
		</tbody>
    </table>
</div>

Steps4: Export Data to Excel
Now finally in export_data.php we will implement functionality to export data to excel with php. We will check for FORM submit POST value to export data.

if(isset($_POST["export_data"])) {	
	$filename = "phpzag_data_export_".date('Ymd') . ".xls";			
	header("Content-Type: application/vnd.ms-excel");
	header("Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\"$filename\"");	
	$show_coloumn = false;
	if(!empty($developer_records)) {
	  foreach($developer_records as $record) {
		if(!$show_coloumn) {
		  // display field/column names in first row
		  echo implode("\t", array_keys($record)) . "\n";
		  $show_coloumn = true;
		}
		echo implode("\t", array_values($record)) . "\n";
	  }
	}
	exit;  
}

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You can view the live demo from the Demo link and can download the script from the Download link below.
Demo Download

16 thoughts on “Export Data to Excel with PHP and MySQL

  1. Hello,
    I want export : username, password,email
    From only 1 table. like the Table = USER
    How can i do it ?
    How must i edit codes?
    Regards

  2. header(“Content-Type: application/vnd.ms-excel”);
    header(“Content-Disposition: attachment; filename=\”$filename\””);

    this 2 lines are not properly work in my pc
    how can i work??
    please give a solution my problem???

    1. You can trey below header code if face issue. Thanks!

      header(“Content-Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet”);
      header(“Content-Disposition: attachment;filename=\”filename.xlsx\””);
      header(“Cache-Control: max-age=0”);

  3. Thanks so much for you. This tutorial is really simple and understandable, basically very useful in many cases. Thanks so much one more time. Good Luck!!!

  4. The same code is working if it is uploaded on root of my website server. But if I am using this code in wordpress, it does not allow to download the excel file. Please SUGGEST.

  5. Thank you for this great tutorial! Helped me a lot. One question: how can I echo the results in a vertical row in Excel? The current situation is:
    surname name age
    John Doe 12

    But I want:

    surname John
    name Doe
    age 12

    Many thanks in advance.

    1. You can use library like PHPExcel or another library to create vertical rows in excel etc. Thanks!

  6. Hi, Thanks for the awesome code.
    I want to fix the excel cell to TEXT format.
    So that when I fetch a value like 087312 it should come as same in excel as well.
    However it becomes 87312 but it should be same as 087312

    Please help

  7. where put this code

    include_once(“db_connect.php”);
    $sql_query = “SELECT name, gender, address, designation, age FROM developers LIMIT 10”;
    $resultset = mysqli_query($conn, $sql_query) or die(“database error:”. mysqli_error($conn));
    $developer_records = array();
    while( $rows = mysqli_fetch_assoc($resultset) ) {
    $developer_records[] = $rows;
    }

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