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Exporting Panel Schedules & Takeoffs to Excel

When I run one of Design Master Electrical's Print commands, how do I export that information to Excel?​

The reports generated by the following Design Master Electrical commands are printed in HTML format:

By default, Windows will open HTML files in your preferred web browser. However, there are three ways you can open the HTML files with Excel instead:

  • run the Open command from within Excel and select the file;
  • open the context menu for the file and select Open with;
  • or change the Windows default program for HTML files to Excel.
note

The following steps are for Windows 10. The steps may differ slightly for other versions.

Open From Within Excel​

Opening the HTML file from within Excel is pretty straightforward.

Open Excel, then run the Open command (depending on your version, you may also need to select Browse). Then go to your project folder and select the HTML file you want to view.

If you go to the folder and the file is not visible, beside the File name field at the bottom of the dialog box, open the file type dropdown and select All Files (*.*).

Open From the Context Menu​

The context menu refers to what you see when you right-click an object in Windows.

Go to your project folder and right-click on the HTML file you want to view to open its context menu. Select Open with to open a list of programs capable of opening the file, then select Excel from the list.

note

If Excel is not an option in the list, use the Open From Within Excel method above instead, then try this method again later. Windows is more likely to suggest programs that you have recently used to open that file type.

Change the Windows Default Program​

If you make Excel the Windows default program for opening HTML files, you can open these files without taking any special steps. In addition, when you run the Design Master Electrical Print commands, they will automatically open the file in Excel for you.

warning

This method will cause all HTML files to attempt to use Excel.

If you often use other types of HTML files, such as locally stored web pages or outputs for other programs, this method is not recommended.

The simplest way to change the default program for a file type is through the context menu referenced in the Open From the Context Menu method. Instead of selecting Excel from the Open with submenu, select Choose another app, which will open a new dialog box.

Select Excel from the list and check the ☐ Always use this app to open .html files box.

Then press the button to save your changes and open the file in Excel.

note

If Excel is not an option in the list, open the HTML file using the Open From Within Excel method above instead, then try this method again later. Windows is more likely to suggest programs that you have recently used to open that file type.