How to export orders from WooCommerce to CSV, XML, JSON, or Excel?

There are numerous reasons why you need to export orders in WooCommerce. Sending orders to an external warehouse/ shipping company, bulk updating orders, or analyzing sales may be some of them. Today, you’ll see how to export orders from WooCommerce to CSV (Excel supported), XML, or JSON file types.

First, I describe the two built-in methods and then the advanced options in the plugin for the WooCommerce order export.

Table of contents

• Default WooCommerce options vs Advanced export with a plugin
• WooCommerce order export with advanced options
• Export orders from WooCommerce - step-by-step guide
• Why export WooCommerce orders to XML or JSON?
• Order export - questions & troubleshooting

Default WooCommerce options vs Advanced export

There are two built-in methods for WooCommerce order export.

Export orders to CSV in WooCommerce (standard option)

First, you may export orders to CSV (in Analytics → Orders filtering orders for the exported file:

The first method gives you a CSV file with the following columns:

Date, Order #, Status, Customer, Customer type, Product(s), Items sold, Coupon(s), and Net sales.

As you can see, the information range is rather limited. You won’t see shipping and taxes in the Net Sales. And you can’t adjust the columns in the exported CSV file 🙁.

Export orders to XML in WooCommerce (standard option)

You may also use the second built-in method in Tools → Export. Choose Orders and click on the Download Export File button.

The XML file will contain all orders with postmeta, but you will not see items of the order, just billing, shipping, notes, and other postmeta information. That method lacks crucial information!

As you can see, the methods for exporting orders don't have the option to export orders in different formats (CSV, XML, JSON). OK. Let’s see what is possible with the plugin 🙂!

Export WooCommerce orders to CSV/ XML in WooCommerce (plugin)

Using Dropshipping Orders Export for WooCommerce you may choose columns and dataset you want in your CSV or XML export files 💪! So, you export what you need.

You can also choose the export file format (CSV, XML, or JSON). Let’s see the example with a JSON file to see the exported data at once. We got all items of WooCommerce orders:

I will show you the export process in a while. But first, let’s see why you may want to choose the plugin.

WooCommerce order export with advanced options

As you’ve seen, the 2 default WooCommerce export options are limited. Reasons for exporting orders may differ. Here are some advanced export order options that come with the plugin:

• choose the data and columns to export
• rearrange the file structure
• decide about the export file format (CSV, XML, JSON)
• export WooCommerce orders based on order status, billing email, order currency, date, total amount, product name, product category, product SKU, or product tag
• change the order status after the order export
• choose the CSV separator
• set automatic order export based on a schedule
• send the exported file by email

The plugin gives you those features 🎉! See all options on the product page:

Export orders from WooCommerce - step-by-step guide

OK. To export orders from WooCommerce to CSV, XML, or JSON, follow these steps:

1. Install and activate the plugin

   After purchasing the plugin, install the extension in your WordPress → Plugins by uploading the plugin zip.
   
   Next, activate the plugin.

2. Add your first export

   Go to the Dropshipping Export Orders tab (above WooCommerce) and click create new 🚀.
   

3. Choose the export file format

   💡 You can export WooCommerce orders to CSV (Excel), XML, or JSON files.
   
   

4. Set advanced conditions for exported orders

   In the next step, you may select one or multiple rules (conditional logic). For example, you can decide to export orders above a certain order total, specific currency, or WooCommerce order statuses ⚙️.
   

5. Export Mapper

   Select specific data for exported orders and arrange the data (columns in CSV, nodes in XML, or order in JSON). Map the WooCommerce Data with the field names in the exported files.

   💡 The list of order fields.

   

6. Use export options

   Almost finished 🙂. In the final step before running the order export, you can name the export, choose a separator for the CSV file, automatically change the order statuses, and set the cron schedule ⏱️.
   
   You may even send the exported file to a specific server location, or send an additional email with the export.
   

7. Run the order export

   Finally, the plugin will export WooCommerce orders based on the settings and conditions we’ve set.
   
   That’s it! Now, you can download the exported file.
   

8. Export files

   If you need to download previously exported orders, go to the Export Manager tab and get the files.
   

Why export WooCommerce orders to XML or JSON?

It depends on your needs, the program for managing the export file, or the external (warehouse) software you will use to import your WooCommerce orders.

The Dropshipping Orders Export for WooCommerce plugin lets you export WooCommerce orders in CSV, XML, and JSON.

The plugin has also a useful feature to export orders automatically based on a schedule.

Order export - questions & troubleshooting

Let's see some common issues both for the default and advanced exports.

max execution time (timeout errors)

Sometimes, you may encounter a blank page when exporting a lot of orders at once. If that happens, you can check the cause in the WordPress logs and WooCommerce → Status → Logs. Debug logs can show that there was a timeout for script execution. In that case, you may increase the PHP max execution time parameter.

Low memory

If the export process ends unexpectedly with a fatal error, for example:

• Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 12345678 bytes exhausted
• Fatal error: Out of memory (allocated 12345678)

It means that the memory limit was exceeded. It can happen for large exports and when the memory_limit parameter is low.

Order update errors

When importing orders to WooCommerce some data may be overwritten. It could happen when orders recognizable by ID were deleted or altered. In that case, the importer might change the order data or import duplicates.

Other errors can be related to the file's structure that does not match the WooCommerce order one or custom coding (additional fields). In that case, you may need custom data export to update orders.

The plugin does not export orders based on an automated schedule

The Dropshipping Orders Export for WooCommerce plugin uses the WordPress cron jobs. WordPress cron depends on the site's traffic to trigger the scheduled actions.

Is the WordPress exporter enough?

The WordPress exporter may suffice for data migration between WordPress sites. You may also need to process the exported data with a tool. WordPress exporter comes with predefined features and options, it does not need custom coding.

How about the export from WooCommerce Analytics?

This tool is rather for understanding the store's statistics and sales. The exported data is quite limited to the basic information about a certain part and based on a specific perspective.

What is exported with the plugin?

It depends on the plugin settings.

It's possible to export:

• Order ID
• Order number
• Order item ID
• Order item name
• Order item type
• Order item subtotal
• Order item subtotal tax
• Order item price total
• Order item price total tax
• Billing first name
• Billing last name
• Billing email
• Billing address 1
• Billing address 2
• Billing Country
• Billing City
• Billing postcode
• Billing company
• Billing state
• Billing phone
• Shipping first name
• Shipping last name
• Shipping address 1
• Shipping address 2
• Shipping Country
• Shipping City
• Shipping postcode
• Shipping company
• Shipping state
• Shipping phone
• Payment method

So, the exported data may contain information about the orders including taxes and shipping. Go back to the export steps.

What's more, the export will export selected fields based on the following conditions:

• Order status
• Billing email
• Order currency
• Order created date
• Order total amount
• Order product name
• Order product category
• Order product SKU
• Order product tag

How to customize the export with the plugin?

First, you may choose the format file.

Next, you can set the export conditions, including order status, or use date range filters.

Then, comes the order field mapping.

Finally, you may decide about export options including the option to change the order statuses after the export. Also, to set the number of products in one butch for the export that may help when encountering low memory limits.

Is this a repetitive task?

No. It can be set once with pre-saved template and also run automatically based on the schedule.

You may check the order export statuses on the manager list of all exports.

WooCommerce export orders summary

Today, you’ve learned how to export orders from WooCommerce to CSV (Excel), XML, and JSON with a plugin. See the plugin page and test the plugin in a free demo 🙂.

If you have any questions leave a comment below.