Export-Csv
Converts objects into a series of character-separated value (CSV) strings and saves the strings to a file.
Syntax
Export-Csv
[[-Path] <string>]
[[-Delimiter] <char>]
-InputObject <psobject>
[-LiteralPath <string>]
[-Force]
[-NoClobber]
[-Encoding <string>]
[-Append]
[-NoTypeInformation]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]
Export-Csv
[[-Path] <string>]
-InputObject <psobject>
[-LiteralPath <string>]
[-Force]
[-NoClobber]
[-Encoding <string>]
[-Append]
[-UseCulture]
[-NoTypeInformation]
[-WhatIf]
[-Confirm]
[<CommonParameters>]
Description
The Export-CSV
cmdlet creates a CSV file of the objects that you submit. Each object is a row that
includes a character-separated list of the object's property values. You can use the Export-CSV
cmdlet to create spreadsheets and share data with programs that accept CSV files as input.
Do not format objects before sending them to the Export-CSV
cmdlet. If Export-CSV
receives
formatted objects the CSV file contains the format properties rather than the object properties. To
export only selected properties of an object, use the Select-Object
cmdlet.
Examples
Example 1: Export process properties to a CSV file
This example selects Process objects with specific properties, exports the objects to a CSV file.
Get-Process -Name WmiPrvSE |
Select-Object -Property BasePriority,Id,SessionId,WorkingSet |
Export-Csv -Path .\WmiData.csv -NoTypeInformation
Import-Csv -Path .\WmiData.csv
BasePriority Id SessionId WorkingSet
------------ -- --------- ----------
8 976 0 20267008
8 2292 0 36786176
8 3816 0 30351360
8 8604 0 15011840
8 10008 0 8830976
8 11764 0 14237696
8 54632 0 9502720
The Get-Process
cmdlet gets the Process objects. The Name parameter filters the output to
include only the WmiPrvSE process objects. The process objects are sent down the pipeline to the
Select-Object
cmdlet. Select-Object
uses the Property parameter to select a subset of
process object properties. The process objects are sent down the pipeline to the Export-Csv
cmdlet. Export-Csv
converts the process objects to a series of CSV strings. The Path parameter
specifies that the WmiData.csv
file is saved in the current directory. The NoTypeInformation
parameter removes the #TYPE information header from the CSV output and is not required in
PowerShell 6. The Import-Csv
cmdlet uses the Path parameter to display the file located in the
current directory.
Example 2: Export processes to a comma-delimited file
This example gets Process objects and exports the objects to a CSV file.
Get-Process | Export-Csv -Path .\Processes.csv -NoTypeInformation
Get-Content -Path .\Processes.csv
"Name","SI","Handles","VM","WS","PM","NPM","Path","Parent","Company","CPU","FileVersion", ...
"ApplicationFrameHost","4","511","2203597099008","35364864","21979136","30048", ...
The Get-Process
cmdlet gets Process objects. The process objects are sent down the pipeline to
the Export-Csv
cmdlet. Export-Csv
converts the process objects to a series of CSV strings. The
Path parameter specifies that the Processes.csv
file is saved in the current directory. The
NoTypeInformation parameter removes the #TYPE information header from the CSV output and is
not required in PowerShell 6. The Get-Content
cmdlet uses the Path parameter to display the
file located in the current directory.
Example 3: Export processes to a semicolon delimited file
This example gets Process objects and exports the objects to a file with a semicolon delimiter.
Get-Process | Export-Csv -Path .\Processes.csv -Delimiter ';' -NoTypeInformation
Get-Content -Path .\Processes.csv
"Name";"SI";"Handles";"VM";"WS";"PM";"NPM";"Path";"Parent";"Company";"CPU";"FileVersion"; ...
"ApplicationFrameHost";"4";"509";"2203595321344";"34807808";"21770240";"29504"; ...
The Get-Process
cmdlet gets Process objects. The process objects are sent down the pipeline to
the Export-Csv
cmdlet. Export-Csv
converts the process objects to a series of CSV strings. The
Path parameter specifies that the Processes.csv
file is saved in the current directory. The
Delimiter parameter specifies a semicolon to separate the string values. The
NoTypeInformation parameter removes the #TYPE information header from the CSV output and is
not required in PowerShell 6. The Get-Content
cmdlet uses the Path parameter to display the
file located in the current directory.
Example 4: Export processes using the current culture's list separator
This example gets Process objects and exports the objects to a file. The delimiter is the current culture's list separator.
(Get-Culture).TextInfo.ListSeparator
Get-Process | Export-Csv -Path .\Processes.csv -UseCulture -NoTypeInformation
Get-Content -Path .\Processes.csv
"Name","SI","Handles","VM","WS","PM","NPM","Path","Parent","Company","CPU","FileVersion", ...
"ApplicationFrameHost","4","511","2203597099008","35364864","21979136","30048", ...
The Get-Culture
cmdlet uses the nested properties TextInfo and ListSeparator and displays
the current culture's default list separator. The Get-Process
cmdlet gets Process objects. The
process objects are sent down the pipeline to the Export-Csv
cmdlet. Export-Csv
converts the
process objects to a series of CSV strings. The Path parameter specifies that the Processes.csv
file is saved in the current directory. The UseCulture parameter uses the current culture's
default list separator as the delimiter. The NoTypeInformation parameter removes the #TYPE
information header from the CSV output and is not required in PowerShell 6. The Get-Content
cmdlet
uses the Path parameter to display the file located in the current directory.
Example 5: Export processes with type information
This example explains how to include the #TYPE header information in a CSV file. The #TYPE header is the default in versions prior to PowerShell 6.0.
Get-Process | Export-Csv -Path .\Processes.csv
Get-Content -Path .\Processes.csv
#TYPE System.Diagnostics.Process
"Name","SI","Handles","VM","WS","PM","NPM","Path","Company","CPU","FileVersion", ...
"ApplicationFrameHost","4","507","2203595001856","35139584","20934656","29504", ...
The Get-Process
cmdlet gets Process objects. The process objects are sent down the pipeline
to the Export-Csv
cmdlet. Export-Csv
converts the process objects to a series of CSV strings.
The Path parameter specifies that the Processes.csv
file is saved in the current directory.
The Get-Content
cmdlet uses the Path parameter to display the file located in the current
directory.
Example 6: Export and append objects to a CSV file
This example describes how to export objects to a CSV file and use the Append parameter to add objects to an existing file.
$AppService = (Get-Service -DisplayName *Application* | Select-Object -Property DisplayName, Status)
$AppService | Export-Csv -Path .\Services.Csv -NoTypeInformation
Get-Content -Path .\Services.Csv
$WinService = (Get-Service -DisplayName *Windows* | Select-Object -Property DisplayName, Status)
$WinService | Export-Csv -Path .\Services.csv -NoTypeInformation -Append
Get-Content -Path .\Services.Csv
"DisplayName","Status"
"Application Layer Gateway Service","Stopped"
"Application Identity","Running"
"Windows Audio Endpoint Builder","Running"
"Windows Audio","Running"
"Windows Event Log","Running"
The Get-Service
cmdlet gets service objects. The DisplayName parameter returns services that
contain the word Application. The service objects are sent down the pipeline to the Select-Object
cmdlet. Select-Object
uses the Property parameter to specify the DisplayName and
Status properties. The $AppService
variable stores the objects.
The $AppService
objects are sent down the pipeline to the Export-Csv
cmdlet. Export-Csv
converts the service objects to a series of CSV strings. The Path parameter specifies that the
Services.csv
file is saved in the current directory. The NoTypeInformation parameter removes
the #TYPE information header from the CSV output and is not required in PowerShell 6. The
Get-Content
cmdlet uses the Path parameter to display the file located in the current
directory.
The Get-Service
and Select-Object
cmdlets are repeated for services that contain the word
Windows. The $WinService
variable stores the service objects. The Export-Csv
cmdlet uses the
Append parameter to specify that the $WinService
objects are added to the existing
Services.csv
file. The Get-Content
cmdlet is repeated to display the updated file that includes
the appended data.
Example 7: Format cmdlet within a pipeline creates unexpected results
This example shows why it is important not to use a format cmdlet within a pipeline. When unexpected output is received, troubleshoot the pipeline syntax.
Get-Date | Select-Object -Property DateTime, Day, DayOfWeek, DayOfYear |
Export-Csv -Path .\DateTime.csv -NoTypeInformation
Get-Content -Path .\DateTime.csv
"DateTime","Day","DayOfWeek","DayOfYear"
"Wednesday, January 2, 2019 14:59:34","2","Wednesday","2"
Get-Date | Format-Table -Property DateTime, Day, DayOfWeek, DayOfYear |
Export-Csv -Path .\FTDateTime.csv -NoTypeInformation
Get-Content -Path .\FTDateTime.csv
"ClassId2e4f51ef21dd47e99d3c952918aff9cd","pageHeaderEntry","pageFooterEntry","autosizeInfo", ...
"033ecb2bc07a4d43b5ef94ed5a35d280",,,,"Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.Internal.Format. ...
"9e210fe47d09416682b841769c78b8a3",,,,,
"27c87ef9bbda4f709f6b4002fa4af63c",,,,,
"4ec4f0187cb04f4cb6973460dfe252df",,,,,
"cf522b78d86c486691226b40aa69e95c",,,,,
The Get-Date
cmdlet gets the DateTime object. The object is sent down the pipeline to the
Select-Object
cmdlet. Select-Object
uses the Property parameter to select a subset of object
properties. The object is sent down the pipeline to the Export-Csv
cmdlet. Export-Csv
converts
the object to a CSV format. The Path parameter specifies that the DateTime.csv
file is saved in
the current directory. The NoTypeInformation parameter removes the #TYPE information header
from the CSV output and is not required in PowerShell 6. The Get-Content
cmdlet uses the Path
parameter to display the CSV file located in the current directory.
When the Format-Table
cmdlet is used within the pipeline to select properties unexpected results
are received. Format-Table
sends table format objects down the pipeline to the Export-Csv
cmdlet
rather than the DateTime object. Export-Csv
converts the table format objects to a series of
CSV strings. The Get-Content
cmdlet displays the CSV file which contains the table format objects.
Example 8: Using the Force parameter to overwrite read-only files
This example creates an empty, read-only file and uses the Force parameter to update the file.
New-Item -Path .\ReadOnly.csv -ItemType File
Set-ItemProperty -Path .\ReadOnly.csv -Name IsReadOnly -Value $true
Get-Process | Export-Csv -Path .\ReadOnly.csv -NoTypeInformation
Export-Csv : Access to the path 'C:\ReadOnly.csv' is denied.
At line:1 char:15
+ Get-Process | Export-Csv -Path .\ReadOnly.csv -NoTypeInformation
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : OpenError: (:) [Export-Csv], UnauthorizedAccessException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : FileOpenFailure,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.ExportCsvCommand
Get-Process | Export-Csv -Path .\ReadOnly.csv -NoTypeInformation -Force
Get-Content -Path .\ReadOnly.csv
"Name";"SI";"Handles";"VM";"WS";"PM";"NPM";"Path";"Parent";"Company";"CPU";"FileVersion"; ...
"ApplicationFrameHost";"4";"509";"2203595321344";"34807808";"21770240";"29504"; ...
The New-Item
cmdlet uses the Path and ItemType parameters to create the ReadOnly.csv
file in the current directory. The Set-ItemProperty
cmdlet uses the Name and Value
parameters to change the file's IsReadOnly property to true. The Get-Process
cmdlet gets
Process objects. The process objects are sent down the pipeline to the Export-Csv
cmdlet.
Export-Csv
converts the process objects to a series of CSV strings. The Path parameter
specifies that the ReadOnly.csv
file is saved in the current directory. The NoTypeInformation
parameter removes the #TYPE information header from the CSV output and is not required in
PowerShell 6. The output shows that the file is not written because access is denied.
The Force parameter is added to the Export-Csv
cmdlet to force the export to write to the
file. The Get-Content
cmdlet uses the Path parameter to display the file located in the
current directory.
Example 9: Using the Force parameter with Append
This example shows how to use the Force and Append parameters. When these parameters are combined, mismatched object properties can be written to a CSV file.
$Content = [PSCustomObject]@{Name = 'PowerShell'; Version = '7.0'}
$Content | Export-Csv -Path .\ParmFile.csv -NoTypeInformation
$AdditionalContent = [PSCustomObject]@{Name = 'Windows PowerShell'; Edition = 'Desktop'}
$AdditionalContent | Export-Csv -Path .\ParmFile.csv -NoTypeInformation -Append
Export-Csv : Cannot append CSV content to the following file: ParmFile.csv.
The appended object does not have a property that corresponds to the following column:
Version. To continue with mismatched properties, add the -Force parameter, and then retry
the command.
At line:1 char:22
+ $AdditionalContent | Export-Csv -Path .\ParmFile.csv -NoTypeInformation -Append
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+ CategoryInfo : InvalidData: (Version:String) [Export-Csv], InvalidOperationException
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : CannotAppendCsvWithMismatchedPropertyNames,Microsoft.PowerShell. ...
$AdditionalContent | Export-Csv -Path .\ParmFile.csv -NoTypeInformation -Append -Force
Import-Csv -Path .\ParmFile.csv
Name Version
---- -------
PowerShell 7.0
Windows PowerShell
An expression creates the PSCustomObject with Name and Version properties. The values
are stored in the $Content
variable. The $Content
variable is sent down the pipeline to the
Export-Csv
cmdlet. Export-Csv
uses the Path parameter and saves the ParmFile.csv
file in
the current directory. The NoTypeInformation parameter removes the #TYPE information header
from the CSV output and is not required in PowerShell 6.
Another expression creates a PSCustomObject with the Name and Edition properties. The
values are stored in the $AdditionalContent
variable. The $AdditionalContent
variable is sent
down the pipeline to the Export-Csv
cmdlet. The Append parameter is used to add the data to
the file. The append fails because there is a property name mismatch between Version and
Edition.
The Export-Csv
cmdlet Force parameter is used to force the export to write to the file. The
Edition property is discarded. The Import-Csv
cmdlet uses the Path parameter to display
the file located in the current directory.
Parameters
-Append
Use this parameter so that Export-CSV
adds CSV output to the end of the specified file. Without
this parameter, Export-CSV
replaces the file contents without warning.
This parameter was introduced in Windows PowerShell 3.0.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | False |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Confirm
Prompts you for confirmation before running the cmdlet.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Aliases: | cf |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | False |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Delimiter
Specifies a delimiter to separate the property values. The default is a comma (,
). Enter a
character, such as a colon (:
). To specify a semicolon (;
), enclose it in quotation marks.
Type: | Char |
Position: | 1 |
Default value: | comma (,) |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Encoding
Specifies the encoding for the exported CSV file. The default value is ASCII
.
The acceptable values for this parameter are as follows:
ASCII
Uses ASCII (7-bit) character set.BigEndianUnicode
Uses UTF-16 with the big-endian byte order.Default
Uses the encoding that corresponds to the system's active code page (usually ANSI).OEM
Uses the encoding that corresponds to the system's current OEM code page.Unicode
Uses UTF-16 with the little-endian byte order.UTF7
Uses UTF-7.UTF8
Uses UTF-8.UTF32
Uses UTF-32 with the little-endian byte order.
Type: | String |
Accepted values: | ASCII, BigEndianUnicode, Default, OEM, Unicode, UTF7, UTF8, UTF32 |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | ASCII |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Force
This parameter allows Export-Csv
to overwrite files with the Read Only attribute.
When Force and Append parameters are combined, objects that contain mismatched properties can be written to a CSV file. Only the properties that match are written to the file. The mismatched properties are discarded.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | False |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-InputObject
Specifies the objects to export as CSV strings. Enter a variable that contains the objects or type a
command or expression that gets the objects. You can also pipe objects to Export-CSV
.
Type: | PSObject |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | True |
Accept pipeline input: | True |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-LiteralPath
Specifies the path to the CSV output file. Unlike Path, the value of the LiteralPath parameter is used exactly as it is typed. No characters are interpreted as wildcards. If the path includes escape characters, use single quotation marks. Single quotation marks tell PowerShell not to interpret any characters as escape sequences.
Type: | String |
Aliases: | PSPath |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-NoClobber
Use this parameter so that Export-CSV
does not overwrite an existing file. By default, if the file
exists in the specified path, Export-CSV
overwrites the file without warning.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Aliases: | NoOverwrite |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | False |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-NoTypeInformation
Removes the #TYPE
information header from the output. This parameter became the default in
PowerShell 6.0 and is included for backwards compatibility.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Aliases: | NTI |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | False |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-Path
A required parameter that specifies the location to save the CSV output file.
Type: | String |
Position: | 0 |
Default value: | None |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-UseCulture
Uses the list separator for the current culture as the item delimiter. To find the list separator
for a culture, use the following command: (Get-Culture).TextInfo.ListSeparator
.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | False |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
-WhatIf
Prevents the cmdlet from being processed or making changes. The output shows what would happen if the cmdlet were run.
Type: | SwitchParameter |
Aliases: | wi |
Position: | Named |
Default value: | False |
Required: | False |
Accept pipeline input: | False |
Accept wildcard characters: | False |
Inputs
You can pipe any object with an Extended Type System (ETS) adapter to this cmdlet.
Outputs
None
This cmdlet returns no output.
Notes
Windows PowerShell includes the following aliases for Export-Csv
:
epcsv
The Export-CSV
cmdlet converts the objects that you submit into a series of CSV strings and saves
them in the specified text file. You can use Export-CSV
to save objects in a CSV file and then use
the Import-Csv
cmdlet to create objects from the CSV file.
In the CSV file, each object is represented by a character-separated list of the property values of the object. The property values are converted to strings using the ToString() method. The strings are represented by the property value name. `Export-CSV does not export the methods of the object.
The CSV strings are output as follows:
- By default the first string contains the #TYPE information header followed by the object type's fully qualified name. For example, #TYPE System.Diagnostics.Process.
- If NoTypeInformation is used the first string includes the column headers. The headers contain the first object's property names as a character-separated list.
- The remaining strings contain character-separated lists of each object's property values.
When you submit multiple objects to Export-CSV
, Export-CSV
organizes the file based on the
properties of the first object that you submit. If the remaining objects do not have one of the
specified properties, the property value of that object is null, as represented by two consecutive
commas. If the remaining objects have additional properties, those property values are not included
in the file.
You can use the Import-Csv
cmdlet to recreate objects from the CSV strings in the files. The
resulting objects are CSV versions of the original objects that consist of string representations of
the property values and no methods.
The ConvertTo-Csv
and ConvertFrom-Csv
cmdlets convert objects to CSV strings and from CSV
strings. Export-CSV
is the same as ConvertTo-CSV
, except that it saves the CSV strings in a
file.
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