Export issues to Excel

Last updated: Oct 26, 2026

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If you export Jira issues to a CSV file and open that file in Microsoft Excel, fields with line breaks can show incorrectly. This also applies to issues that the Jira integration of Fluid Attacks creates or updates. Examples of these fields are descriptions or comments with more than one line. Excel can show each line of these fields in a different cell or row, and not in a single cell.

Cause

A limit of Microsoft Excel causes this problem. The CSV file and the Jira integration of Fluid Attacks do not cause it. When a field in a CSV file contains line breaks, the CSV import of Excel does not keep those lines in the same cell.

Solution 1: Use a different tool to open the CSV file

If you open the CSV file with a tool other than Excel, the problem does not occur:

• Apple Numbers
• Google Sheets (import the CSV file directly)

Solution 2: Import the CSV with Excel's Power Query

If you must use Excel, import the file. Do not open it directly:

1. Open a new, empty Excel workbook.
2. Go to Data > Get Data (Power Query).
3. Select Text/CSV.
4. Select the CSV file that you want to import.

For more information, read the Atlassian article about this topic: Excel does not properly render line breaks when importing CSV files coming from the Jira application.