How to Export WooCommerce Orders in CSV or XML Format (3 Easy Methods)

Running a WooCommerce store means dealing with orders day in and day out that will often require you to bring the data out of the WordPress dashboard.

There can be multiple reasons for that, such as accounting, inventory management, or even customer relationship management.

You may even need to share the numbers with stakeholders, dropshippers, or even your shipping partners. Whatever the reason(s), knowing how to get the data out in CSV or XML format can be a huge help.

In this blog, I’ll show you two methods of exporting WooCommerce order information in CSV or XML format. Let’s get to it right away and see how it’s done!

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Why Export Woocommerce Orders in CSV or XML Format?

You might wonder why you should export orders in CSV or XML format. The answer is simple – both these formats are super accessible and easiest to work with.

Most computers already have the software needed to read files in these formats. For example, you can use MS Excel to work with CSV files. Similarly, you can view and edit CSV files using Google Sheets. XML files can also be opened on browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and Safari.

These files are easy to share, and working with them on different devices is usually no issue. This feature comes in super handy when multiple people have to work with a WooCommerce order file.

Now, let’s proceed and see how to export WooCommerce orders.

When Should I Import and Export Orders?

Exporting orders is necessary when backing up data or sharing it with external systems. Businesses often export orders to analyze trends, track sales, and provide reporting.

There are obviously many other reasons why you’d want to export order details. Let’s check out some common reasons below:

Sending Orders in Batches via a CSV File

Sending orders to a third-party warehouse or fulfillment center in batches via CSV files is a common practice.

Using CSV files for bulk orders offers transparency, with everything documented in one file, both your team and your warehouse can quickly reference the order details if needed.

You Need Specific Data to Run Reports

Accurate reporting is essential for making informed business decisions, and sometimes, very specific order data is needed to generate the reports that matter. This data is invaluable when planning new marketing strategies or deciding which products to restock.

For example, if you’re analyzing your best-selling products, exporting order data with specific filters like dates, order types, or locations can give you a clear picture of what’s driving revenue.

Importing Orders in Bulk That Were Placed Manually via Email, Over the Phone

For businesses that take orders manually—whether over the phone, via email, or in person—importing those orders in bulk into their eCommerce system is critical for keeping everything centralized.

Bulk importing manual orders improves customer experience. Customers expect quick and efficient service regardless of how they place their orders.

You Want to Store Order History Off-Site

Storing order history off-site can be a good security measure for businesses that handle large volumes of transactions. By exporting order data regularly and storing it in an external location, such as a cloud service or physical backup, you protect your business against potential data loss.

Off-site storage is also helpful for compliance and auditing purposes. Many industries require businesses to retain order data for a certain period of time.

Method 1: Export Order Details via Built-in WooCommerce Import/Export Tool

Exporting data is useful if you want to review your best-selling products, compare revenue for different time periods, or get an overview of your stock levels.

We’ll check out the methods to export order details in both CSV and XML in this section. First, let’s extract order details in CSV format.

Export Order Details in CSV via WooCommerce

To get started, here’s what you need to do:

• Head to your WooCommerce dashboard by clicking the “WooCommerce” button in the CMS.

• Once done, you’ll need to go into the reports section, as shown in the screenshot below.

• Now you’ll come across the “Orders” dashboard. There are various segmentations for your orders available there. I’m using a new store here for this example, so there are no orders to display.
• The WooCommerce plugin generates reports for three categories: “Orders,” “Customers,” and “Stocks.”
• Under the “Orders” category, you can explore different data options:
  • Sales by date
  • Sales by product
  • Sales by category
• Then, select the time period for your report. You can choose from the default timeframes or set a custom one.
• Once you have the order data you need, you simply need to press the Export CSV button, as shown in the picture below.

• And that’s all that needs to be done. Once you do it, you’ll have the CVS file downloaded.

• Once downloaded, you’ll have the spreadsheet ready.

As seen above, it’ll sort out the order details in different fields. You can then work on the spreadsheet and make the data changes as you like.

Export Order Details in XML via WooCommerce

Exporting data in XML is also a pretty simple process. I’ll guide you on how to do it.

• First, you must go to the CMS dashboard and look for the “Tools” option.

• Then, go to the “Export” option and select “Orders.”

• Click the “Download Export File” button. The file will then be in XML, which you can open and work with.

One thing we should mention here is that this method has some limitations. For example:

• Lack of control over order fields.
• Lack of control over order timelines.
• No filtration for the data.

An even easier method is to use plugins for someone looking for more than a simple data export.

Let’s now see why using plugins can be a better option than just using the native WooCommerce and WordPress functions to get order CSV and XML files.

Method 2: Export Order Details via a WooCommerce Plugin

We’ll export WooCommerce order data using the “Advanced Order Export For WooCommerce” plugin. The plugin is compatible with WordPress 4.7 and higher and currently has over 100,000 active installations.

Now let’s check how to export details using a plugin.

• The first step is to install and activate the plugin. It’s free, so you can install it directly from the WordPress dashboard.

• When you finish the installation process, the plugin will replace the native export feature of WooCommerce.

• You can see the wide variety of options that become available to you with the plugin. Let’s explore some of the options.

• You can refine the data with filters. This is useful if you are looking for orders in specific date ranges.
• Also, you can custom name your export file, an option that is unavailable in the native WooCommerce export mechanism.
• Then, you can refine your filters even more with various categories such as product, customer, shipping, etc.
• The plugin also lets you download your file in formats other than XML and CSV.

• Once you’ve chosen your desired filters, set the file name, and choose the file type. You can export the data.

Click on the export button below, and your file will be downloaded. That’s it. You are set to view and work with the file, and you can even share it with other people and stakeholders.

Troubleshooting Common WooCommerce Order Export Issues

Now that we’ve covered both built-in WooCommerce order export and the plugin methods, let’s address the elephant in the room—the common issues you may encounter when exporting WooCommerce order data.

Here are some common issues and their solutions:

Incompatible Plugins

One of the most common causes of export issues in WooCommerce is plugin incompatibility. WooCommerce heavily relies on plugins to support different functionality, this may cause compatibility issues when these plugins aren’t compatible with export features.

To solve this issue:

• You can temporarily disable any plugins that were installed or updated recently.

• Ensure that all active plugins are compatible with your WooCommerce version.
• Use tools such as the Health Check plugin, this allows you to test for plugin conflicts in a staging environment without affecting your live site.

Slow Exports or Out-of-Memory Errors

When exporting a large number of WooCommerce orders, you might experience timeouts or the export process slowing down considerably.

To solve this issue:

• Open the public_html file and click on wp-config.php file:

• Open the wp-config.php file and search for the line that contains WP_MEMORY_LIMIT. If it doesn’t exist, you can add the following line to increase the PHP memory limit: define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’);

• If you’re a Cloudways customer, you can easily increase your PHP memory limit in the settings and packages section.

• Another solution for tackling slow exports or out-of-memory errors is to export orders in smaller batches instead of exporting them all at once.

Exports Remaining Queued in WooCommerce

This problem is often related to background processing issues, server configurations, or plugin conflicts.

To solve this issue:

• This issue is often related to background processing, server configurations, or plugin conflicts.
• To resolve it, open your wp-config.php file and ensure that the following line is not present: define(‘DISABLE_WP_CRON’, true);
• This will help prevent issues with WooCommerce exports by ensuring that the WordPress cron jobs are not disabled.
• If it is present, remove the line or set it to false:
• Use a plugin like WP Crontrol to manually trigger cron jobs and see if the export begins processing.
• Insufficient server resources like CPU and memory can also cause background processes to fail or queue indefinitely. Again, if you’re a Cloudways customer, scaling resources up or down is as seamless as dragging a slider.

Best WooCommerce Import/Export Orders Plugins

Let’s now look at some of the best import and export plugins that can do the job for you.

1. Order Export & Order Import for WooCommerce

– Source: WordPress.org

Definitely, a good option to explore for exporting WooCommerce orders into different file formats. Order Export & Order Import for WooCommerce is free to use but also offers paid features.

It has 50,000+ active installations and supports WordPress version 3 and higher. Some of the key features include:

• WooCommerce Export orders to CSV.
• Import orders from CSV to WooCommerce.
• Export coupons to CSV.
• Import coupons from CSV to WooCommerce.
• Import selected columns from the order import CSV file.
• Bulk update WooCommerce orders and coupons.

Currently, the plugin has an average rating of about 4.7 on WordPress.org.

2. Import Export Suite for WooCommerce

– Source: WooCommerce.com

This one is also a decent option for getting the job done. Import Export Suite for WooCommerce is priced at $10.75/month. The plugin doesn’t simply download the data file for export orders but it also lets you migrate the data between different WooCommerce stores.

Definitely, an option to consider if you are looking for advanced features with the import and export of your WooCommerce order data.

Currently, the plugin has an average rating of about 4.3 on the WooCommerce products store.

3. Order Export for WooCommerce

– Source: WordPress.org

Another simple tool for exporting WooCommerce orders is Order Export for WooCommerce, which is available for free in the WordPress repository.

The plugin has 3,000+ active installations and is compatible with WordPress version 5 and higher. It also has a paid version that offers some advanced features, such as exporting the data to your accountant, delivery via FTP, sophisticated filters, scheduled exports, etc.

The free version has a rating of about 3.6 on WordPress.org.

Summary

This wraps up our guide on exporting WooCommerce orders. The WooCommerce and WordPress export options are usually sufficient for small Woocommerce stores with a few orders per week.

But as you grow, you’ll probably need a plugin that saves you time with automated updates and well-sorted data. It’s best to choose a method that’s the safest and the most convenient for you.

In this guide, we covered all the options to export your WooCommerce order data. Choose the one that best fits your needs.

In case we missed anything, let us know in the comments below.