How to export Zendesk data to Excel or Power BI: A complete guide

Let's be honest: your Zendesk account is packed with useful customer data, and getting it into a tool like Excel or Power BI is a great way to unlock even more value. You know there are trends and key metrics in your tickets, and while Zendesk's built-in dashboards are excellent for daily operations, you might want to extend that power with manual exports, connectors, or a custom API integration.

In this guide, we'll break down the common ways to export Zendesk data to Excel or Power BI in 2026. We'll look at the features and considerations of each method, from Zendesk's own robust tools to more advanced options. We'll also talk about a different approach that might complement your export process.

Why bother to export Zendesk data to Excel or Power BI?

Zendesk Explore has some powerful reports right out of the box, and they serve as a great foundation. When you pull your data into something flexible like Power BI or Excel, you can really start digging in and find specific insights to further improve your support operations.

Here are a few reasons why teams choose to move their data:

• Build specialized dashboards: You can complement the pre-built widgets and visualize specific metrics tailored to your unique business needs. Think ticket volume for a specific product line, agent performance during your busiest hours, or how a new feature is impacting your support queue.

• Mix support data with other business info: Support data on its own is useful, but it becomes even more powerful when you combine it with data from other departments. You could see how support interactions affect customer lifetime value from your CRM or connect ticket spikes to recent marketing campaigns.

• Get better at spotting trends: By analyzing the data deeply, you can identify recurring patterns, find gaps in your knowledge base, and refine your forecasting for support volume. It’s all about moving from great service to proactive customer care.

• Keep a secure backup: Regularly exporting your data means you have an independent copy on hand. This is great for peace of mind and can be useful for compliance, audits, or internal record-keeping.

Method 1: using Zendesk's built-in export features

Your first instinct might be to use the export tools that are already inside Zendesk. It’s a direct and reliable route, offering several options depending on your plan and how you prefer to manage your data.

Exporting datasets from Zendesk Explore

If your company is on a Professional plan or higher, you can export entire datasets from the Explore module. This lets you grab the data from core areas like Tickets, SLAs, and Agent Updates.

You can do a one-time export for a set period (like the last 30 days) or schedule recurring exports to run automatically. You'll get CSV files that you can then easily pull into Excel or Power BI.

What to consider:

• Plan availability: This feature is available for subscribers on the Suite Professional, Enterprise, or similar legacy plans, which offer a high level of functionality.

• Ideal for targeted datasets: While individual reports have a 50,000-row limit, these dataset exports allow for more comprehensive data handling, making them a solid choice for most reporting needs.

• Allows for hands-on management: This method gives you point-in-time snapshots of your data. When you want to refresh your external reports, you can download the latest CSVs and update your tool of choice.

Exporting individual reports and dashboard tabs

Need to grab the data from just one report or dashboard? You can export it directly in a few formats, including CSV, Excel, and PDF.

This is a quick and easy way to grab a snapshot for a presentation or a specific analysis. The Excel export is capped at 50,000 rows, which is plenty for most standard reports. It’s a straightforward process whenever you need to update your analysis for a quick check.

Method 2: using the Zendesk API and direct connectors

If you're looking for a more automated approach, the next step is connecting to Zendesk through its API or a dedicated connector in Power BI. These methods create a direct data pipeline for teams who want to build a more custom reporting environment.

Using the Power BI Zendesk connector

Microsoft Power BI has a built-in connector for Zendesk. You simply go to "Get Data," select Zendesk, type in your subdomain, and Power BI pulls in your tickets, users, and organizations.

This is a very convenient way to start syncing your data. For teams with very large datasets, you might want to manage your refresh schedules to ensure everything stays up to date. It's a reliable tool for bringing core Zendesk tables into your BI environment.

Building a custom API solution

For the most control, there's the Zendesk API. It’s a powerful way to pull data, letting you programmatically grab almost anything from your account, including ticket comments and audit histories, providing an enterprise-grade solution.

This is a great project for teams with development resources. A custom API integration offers total flexibility, and your team can manage:

• Authentication: Using secure API tokens.

• Pagination: Writing scripts to efficiently navigate through your ticket data.

• Rate limits: Following Zendesk's generous API call limits to ensure your data feed remains consistent.

• Data warehousing: Setting up a database (like BigQuery or Snowflake) to store your data as part of a larger business intelligence strategy.

This gives you unmatched flexibility and is a sign of a mature, data-driven support organization.

An alternative to exporting Zendesk data

This brings up a different question: what if you want to complement your data exports with immediate insights? In addition to these reporting methods, some newer AI tools can analyze your data right where it lives to provide additional value.

This is where a tool like eesel AI comes in. It connects directly to your Zendesk account and uses your historical ticket data-the same data you might be exporting-to provide useful information that works alongside your Excel or Power BI reports.

Get automated insights to complement your spreadsheets

While you build your custom reports in Power BI, eesel AI’s analytics dashboard can provide quick, automated wins. It analyzes your resolved tickets to:

• Identify knowledge gaps: It highlights common questions that could be better addressed in your help center, even suggesting drafts based on your agents' successful replies.

• Explore automation opportunities: The simulation mode can show you how many of your past tickets could have been handled by automation, helping you plan your support strategy.

This approach provides strategic insights that work beautifully alongside your manual exporting and report-building efforts.

Turn your data into an AI agent

Beyond providing insights, eesel AI for Zendesk lets you put your data to work within the Zendesk ecosystem. It trains an AI agent on your existing tickets, macros, and knowledge base articles. This AI then enhances your support by:

• Providing instant answers to common customer questions.

• Helping with ticket triaging and tagging.

• Assisting human agents by handling more routine queries.

By learning from the data you already have in Zendesk, eesel AI helps you act on the trends you're seeing in your Power BI reports.

Comparing Zendesk data export options

So, which method is right for you? It depends on your goals and the resources you have available. Here’s a quick breakdown to help you compare these strong options.

Feature	Zendesk's built-in export	API / direct connector	eesel AI (complementary insights)
Ease of use	Straightforward (built into Zendesk)	Low (designed for developers)	High (self-serve, quick setup)
Data freshness	Point-in-time (manual refresh)	Near real-time (customizable)	Live
Cost	Included in comprehensive plans	High (developer investment)	Predictable subscription
Key benefit	Reliable data portability	Complete enterprise control	Automated insights & actions

Pricing for Zendesk data export options

Zendesk provides a range of plans to match the needs of different teams, with more advanced export features available as you scale.

Zendesk Suite pricing

According to Zendesk's pricing page, the ability to export full datasets is a powerful feature available on the Suite Professional ($115/agent/month) and Suite Enterprise ($169/agent/month) plans (billed annually). These plans offer an impressive suite of tools for growing businesses.

Microsoft Power BI pricing

Power BI also has a few different tiers for 2026:

• Free: For individuals creating personal reports.

• Pro: $14.00 per user/month. Allows for publishing and sharing reports.

• Premium per user: $24.00 per user/month. Adds advanced AI features for larger datasets.

When using the API, you'll also factor in the value of your development team's time and your data storage infrastructure. Tools like eesel AI offer straightforward pricing that can be a great addition to your support stack.

Beyond exporting: a smarter way to use Zendesk data

Pulling Zendesk data into Excel or Power BI gives you a great deal of analytical freedom, and Zendesk makes this possible through various native exports and connectors. It's a proven way for mature teams to manage their business intelligence.

While you use these methods to inspect your data, you can also use that same data to power intelligent automation.

Platforms like eesel AI offer a compelling complementary option. They work within the Zendesk ecosystem to give you useful insights and help automate resolutions. By combining the historical analysis of Power BI with the active improvements of an AI agent, you can make your support operations more efficient than ever. It’s all about using Zendesk's rich data to move forward, intelligently.

Ready to see what your Zendesk data is really capable of? Try eesel AI for free and see how it complements your reporting in just a few minutes.