How to export DataGridView to Excel in Windows Forms?

8 mins read

Syncfusion® Excel (XlsIO) library is a .NET Excel library used to create, read, and edit Excel documents. It also, converts Excel documents to PDF files. Using this library, you can export DataGridView to an Excel in Windows Forms.

Microsoft DataGridView control has more features than the Datagrid control, whose differences can be found from here.

Steps to export DataGridView to an Excel in Windows Forms, programmatically:

Step 1: Create a new C# Windows Forms application project.

Create C# Windows Forms application

Create a new Windows Forms application.

Step 2: Install the Syncfusion.XlsIO.WinForms NuGet package as a reference to your .NET Framework application from NuGet.org.

Install XlsIO NuGet package

Step 3: Initialize the DataGridView object and set the data source in Form1.cs.

Include the following namespace to create a new DataGridView object.

using System.Windows.Forms;

VB.NET

Imports System.Windows.Forms

Include the following namespace for XlsIO.

using Syncfusion.XlsIO;

VB.NET

Imports Syncfusion.XlsIO

After the initialization set valid data sources to the DataGridView’s DataSource property. Here the DataTable object has been used for the DataSource property.

// Initialize DataGridView control
DataGridView dataGridView = new DataGridView();
 
// Assign data source
dataGridView.DataSource = GetDataTable();

VB.NET

'Initialize DataGridView control
Dim dataGridView As DataGridView = New DataGridView()
 
'Assign data source
dataGridView.DataSource = GetDataTable()

Note:

GetDataTable() method returns a DataTable of applicable data to import.

Step 4: Add a new button to export DataGridView to Excel.

private Button btnCreate;
private Label label;
private GroupBox groupBox;
 
private void InitializeComponent()
{
  btnCreate = new Button();
  label = new Label();
  groupBox = new GroupBox();
 
  // Button
  btnCreate.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(339, 280);
  btnCreate.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(115, 26);
  btnCreate.Text = "Create";
  btnCreate.Click += new EventHandler(btnCreate_Click);
   
  // Label
  label.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(0, 50);
  label.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(426, 48);
  label.Text = "Click the button to view an Excel spreadsheet generated by Essential XlsIO. Please note that MS Excel Viewer or MS Excel is required to view the resultant document.";
  label.TextAlign = System.Drawing.ContentAlignment.MiddleLeft;
       
  // Group Box
  groupBox.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(12, 100);
  groupBox.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(442, 151);
  groupBox.Text = "DataGridView";
 
  // DataGridView to Excel 
  ClientSize = new System.Drawing.Size(466, 333);
  Controls.Add(groupBox);
  Controls.Add(label);
  Controls.Add(btnCreate);
  Text = "DataGridView to Excel";
}

VB.NET

Private WithEvents label As Label
Private WithEvents btnCreate As Button
Private WithEvents groupBox As GroupBox
 
Private Sub InitializeComponent()
  label = New Label()
  btnCreate = New Button()
  groupBox = New GroupBox()
 
  'Button
  btnCreate.Location = New Point(339, 280)
  btnCreate.Size = New Size(115, 26)
  btnCreate.Text = "Create"
 
  'Label
  label.Location = New Point(0, 50)
  label.Size = New Size(426, 48)
  label.Text = "Click the button to view an Excel spreadsheet generated by Essential XlsIO. Please note that MS Excel Viewer or MS Excel is required to view the resultant document."
  label.TextAlign = ContentAlignment.MiddleLeft
 
  'Group Box
  groupBox.Location = New Point(12, 100)
  groupBox.Size = New Size(442, 151)
  groupBox.Text = "DataGridView"
 
  'DataGridView to Excel 
  ClientSize = New Size(475, 196)
  Controls.Add(groupBox)
  Controls.Add(btnCreate)
  Controls.Add(label)
  Text = "DataGridView to Excel"
End Sub

Step 5: Use the following code snippet to create a new Excel workbook.

// Initialize the Excel Engine
using (ExcelEngine excelEngine = new ExcelEngine())
{
  // Initialize Application
  IApplication application = excelEngine.Excel;
 
  // Set default version for application
  application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2013;
 
  // Create a new workbook
  IWorkbook workbook = application.Workbooks.Create(1);
 
  // Accessing the first worksheet in the workbook
  IWorksheet worksheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];
}

VB.NET

'Initialize the Excel Engine
Using excelEngine As ExcelEngine = New ExcelEngine()
 
  'Initialize Application
  Dim application As IApplication = excelEngine.Excel
 
  'Set default version for application
  application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2013
 
  'Create new workbook
  Dim workbook As IWorkbook = application.Workbooks.Create(1)
 
  'Accessing the first worksheet in the workbook
  Dim worksheet As IWorksheet = workbook.Worksheets(0)
 
End Using

Step 6: Export data from DataGridView object to Excel worksheet.

Use the ImportDataGridView() method to export the data from the DataGridView to an Excel worksheet with its column header and cell formatting.

// Import data from DataGridView control
worksheet.ImportDataGridView(dataGridView, 1, 1, true, true);

VB.NET

'Import data from DataGridView control
worksheet.ImportDataGridView(dataGridView, 1, 1, True, True)

Step 7: Use the following complete code in btnCreate_Click to export data from DataGridView to Excel using XlsIO.

//Initialize the Excel Engine
using (ExcelEngine excelEngine = new ExcelEngine())
{
  //Initialize DataGridView control
  DataGridView dataGridView = new DataGridView();
 
  //Assign data source
  dataGridView.DataSource = GetDataTable();
 
  // Assign the datagridview size
  dataGridView.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(441, 150);
 
  // Initialize Application
  IApplication application = excelEngine.Excel;
 
  // Set default version for application
  application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2013;
 
  // Create a new workbook
  IWorkbook workbook = application.Workbooks.Create(1);
 
  // Access the first worksheet in the workbook
  IWorksheet worksheet = workbook.Worksheets[0];
 
  // Import data from DataGridView control
  worksheet.ImportDataGridView(dataGridView, 1, 1, true, true);
 
  // Save the workbook
  workbook.SaveAs("Output.xlsx");
}

VB.NET

'Initialize ExcelEngine
Using excelEngine As ExcelEngine = New ExcelEngine()
 
  'Initialize DataGridView control
  Dim dataGridView As DataGridView = New DataGridView()
 
  'Assign data source
  dataGridView.DataSource = GetDataTable()
 
  'Assign the datagridview size
  dataGridView.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(441, 150)
 
  'Initialize Application
  Dim application As IApplication = excelEngine.Excel
 
  'Set default version for application
  application.DefaultVersion = ExcelVersion.Excel2013
 
  'Create a new workbook
  Dim workbook As IWorkbook = application.Workbooks.Create
 
  'Access the first worksheet in the workbook
  Dim worksheet As IWorksheet = workbook.Worksheets(0)
 
  'Import data from DataGridView control
  worksheet. ImportDataGridView (dataGridView, 1, 1, True, True )
 
  'Save the workbook
  workbook.SaveAs("Output.xlsx")
 
End Using

A complete working example of how to export DataGridView to Excel in Windows Forms can be downloaded from Export DataGridView to Excel.zip.

We recommend you to walkthrough the documentation for importing data from other grid controls, other data objects and exporting operations available with XlsIO for various data objects (DataTable, CLR Objects, etc..).

Refer here to explore the rich set of Syncfusion® Excel (XlsIO) library features.

An online sample link to import from DataGrid.

How to export DataGridView to Excel in Windows Forms?

Steps to export DataGridView to an Excel in Windows Forms, programmatically:

See Also:

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