Retool export table data as "xlsx" limit on records

💬 App Building
1

  1. My goal: I am trying to export the table in "xlsx" format.

  2. Issue: When the table contains smaller records around 3000-5000 rows. I am able to download the table in "xlsx" file format. But when table size increases around 10,000 or greater. Retool is failing to export the table in "xlsx" file. It is able to export it in "csv" but not in "xlsx" for large data set.

  3. Steps I've taken to troubleshoot: Using this method: Table.exportData({fileName:"data",fileType:"xslx"})

Is there any limitation for number of rows for retool to process and prepare xlsx file.
Or any other work around to achieve the solution.

Thanks.

2

Hey @utkarshwork,

Check out this thread - it explains the XLSX export limitation and shares some solid workarounds:

:pushpin: The main limitation:

Retool’s .xlsx export seems to hit a cap at around 500,000 total cells (rows × columns). Beyond that, you might get errors like “Invalid array length,” or the export just fails silently.

:hammer_and_wrench: A few workaround ideas:

If reducing the dataset isn’t ideal, here are some alternative approaches that work better with larger sizes:

  1. Send data to an external API Services that convert JSON or CSV to .xlsx. Some are free, others may require a subscription.
  2. Use a Retool Workflow You can build one that processes the data into .xlsx using a library like xlsx or exceljs, then return a download link.
  3. Host your own conversion script Set up a small backend (Node.js, Python, etc.) to receive the data, convert it into .xlsx, and return the file URL.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need help setting one of these up. :blush:

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