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How to export a table from Microsoft SQL server 2008r2 to Excel using PowerShell

By Johan van Soest.

Published : 2014-01-30.

Last updated : 2017-05-02.

Before PowerShell you had to use the Microsoft SQL Query Analyzer to export data to Excel (or query the database from Excel when allowed). This tip compares a simple query using SQL Query Analyzer versus PowerShell.
The example: get all the records of the table Person.Contact from the AdventureWorks sample database.

Standard Query report

The data can be extracted using the Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio or Microsoft SQL Query Analyzer by running the query:

-- ****************************************************************************
-- * This script displays all records / tuples of the table [Person].[Contact]
-- * from the Microsoft SQL Server sample database AdventureWorks
-- * (C)Copyright 2012 - 2024 Johan van Soest http://www.vansoest.it
-- ****************************************************************************

SELECT * FROM [AdventureWorks].[Person].[Contact]

Make sure you click the "Results to File" output selection button before running this script.
Save the Report file under the name you select. Next you have to import and format the Report output file for use in Excel.

PowerShell Query version

When using Microsoft SQL Server 2008r2 Management Studio, right click anywhere on the database tree and select "Start PowerShell" as can be seen in the next image:
How to open a Microsoft SQL Server PowerShell command window

How to open a Microsoft SQL Server PowerShell command window

Start a Microsoft SQL Server PowerShell command window
This opens a SQL Server PowerShell window that will accept commands right away.The following instruction will:

Query the database AdventureWorks
Selects all the records/tuples from the table Person.Contact
Redirects the query output to the Comma-Separated Values (CSV) export commandlet (Cmdlet)
This rewrites the file c:\Share\AdventureWorks.Person.Contact.CSV
The output type is formatted in Unicode.

Invoke-Sqlcmd -Query "SELECT * FROM [AdventureWorks].[Person].[Contact]" | Export-Csv c:\Share\AdventureWorks.Person.Contact.CSV -encoding "unicode"

The file "AdventureWorks.Person.Contact.CSV" is placed on the shared folder "c:\Share" on the SQL server and can be opened right away using Microsoft Excel 2007 or newer.
Presentation of table AdventureWorks.person.contact in Microsoft Excel

Presentation of table AdventureWorks.person.contact in Microsoft Excel

Presentation of the table Person.Contact from the AdventureWorks sample database in Microsoft Excel
The SQL Server PowerShell command window closes by typing "exit".
This example can be extended to more complex queries such as joins and where filters.

PowerShell command line version

You can also run Microsoft SQL Server PowerShell scripts on the Command line on a machine where the SQL Server PowerShell plugins are installed. The PowerShell modules are installed by default when installing Microsoft SQL Server. You can manually install the PowerShell Extensions for SQL Server 2012, 2014 or 2016 by installing the following components from the Microsoft® SQL Server® 2016 Feature Pack:

Microsoft® System CLR Types for Microsoft SQL Server® 2016 (SQLSysClrTypes.msi)
Microsoft® SQL Server® 2016 Shared Management Objects (SharedManagementObjects.msi)
Microsoft® Windows PowerShell Extensions for Microsoft SQL Server® 2016 (PowerShellTools.msi)

#############################################################################
# This script displays all records / tuples of the table [Person].[Contact]
# from the Microsoft SQL Server sample database AdventureWorks running on
# this computer (localhost) using PowerShell on the command line
# (C)Copyright 2016 - 2024 Johan van Soest http://www.vansoest.it
#############################################################################

# Load the Microsoft SQL-Server snap in modules
Add-PSSnapin SQLServer*

# Setup the query statement
$Query = "SELECT * FROM [AdventureWorks].[Person].[Contact]"
$DataBase = "AdventureWorks"
$ServerInstance = "localhost"

# Open the database connection, get a result set and save it as a Unicode CSV file.
Invoke-Sqlcmd -Query $Query -Database $DataBase -ServerInstance $ServerInstance |
Export-Csv c:\Share\AdventureWorks.Person.Contact.CSV -encoding "unicode"

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