JSON to Excel Converter — Export JSON as .xlsx Files

Before and after: nested JSON becomes a grid

[
  {
    "id": 1001,
    "customer": {
      "name": "Ada Lovelace",
      "city": "London"
    },
    "total": 45.99,
    "tags": ["priority", "gift"]
  },
  {
    "id": 1002,
    "customer": {
      "name": "Grace Hopper",
      "city": "Arlington"
    },
    "total": 219.5,
    "tags": ["net-30"]
  }
]

id     customer.name   customer.city   total
1001   Ada Lovelace    London          45.99
1002   Grace Hopper    Arlington       219.5

The header row is printed bold, one row of the sheet holds one record, and the nested customer object is split into two columns. A cell that begins with an equals sign, a plus, a minus, or an at sign is stored as text in the file, which blocks formula injection when the workbook opens. Turn that option off only when you want the spreadsheet to run those expressions itself.

When to use this tool

• An API endpoint returns an array of objects and the person reading it only opens Excel.
• Finance wants a sheet where the money column is numeric and sums without editing every cell.
• A JSON dump from a CMS has to circulate as an attachment for a content review.
• Support needs an export on their own instead of waiting for an engineer to write a script.
• A nested payload has to be flattened so each field lands in its own column with a dotted name.
• Records arrived with values beginning with = and the workbook still has to open safely.

Best practices

1. Leave flattening on for nested payloads, because dotted headers are what let a reader sort and filter by a nested field.
2. Turn number coercion off for identifiers, zip codes, and phone numbers so leading zeros survive the trip into the cell.
3. Keep formula escaping on for JSON that came from a form, a ticket, or an API outside your control.
4. Read the stats line before downloading; a row count that misses your source count means the payload was wrapped or truncated.
5. Give the sheet a name you will recognize in the tab bar, since the same name becomes the file you download.
6. Split a very large payload into parts first, because the rows, the worksheet markup, and the zip share the memory of one tab.

Common mistakes

1. Pasting a payload wrapped in one outer object, which flattens into a single row of value columns instead of the records you expected.
2. Expecting an array inside an object to become extra rows; it stays one cell, so switch to join mode when the cell should read like a list.
3. Leaving number coercion on for identifier columns, which drops the leading zeros permanently once the cell is numeric.
4. Switching formula escaping off for JSON that arrived from outside, which lets a cell beginning with = run when the file opens.
5. Waiting for more than one worksheet from a single pass; each conversion writes one sheet, so a payload with three sections needs three conversions.