![](https://www.altentertraining.com/wp-content/uploads/Blog-Post-9_13_2018-8-836x1024.jpg)
When I get asked about moving data out of Power BI, I try to discourage that line of thinking. Power BI is a tool for ingesting, not disgorging, data. However, there are times when you really do need (not just want) to export data out of a report.
As of the September 2018 update, you can now copy a small selection of your data from a table or matrix, and paste it into Excel. Let’s see this in practice.
First, let’s distinguish this feature from the Export feature which has been available for a while. If I want to export the data in a matrix, table (or any visual), all I have to do is click on the three ellipses in the upper right hand corner of the visual, as shown below:
![](https://www.altentertraining.com/wp-content/uploads/Blog-Post-9_13_2018-6-1024x659.png)
Then, choose Export data.
![](https://www.altentertraining.com/wp-content/uploads/Blog-Post-9_13_2018-7-1024x565.png)
If you do this, you will export all of the data into a .csv file, which you can open in Excel. To be clear, this is not a new feature.
Let’s take the same matrix. We want to extract only one value: ‘209’.
![](https://www.altentertraining.com/wp-content/uploads/Blog-Post-9_13_2018-1-1024x506.png)
I hover over the value I want to select, and right click. I will now see a Copy option in the menu, then I choose Copy value.
Then I can go to Excel (for example), and paste:
![](https://www.altentertraining.com/wp-content/uploads/Blog-Post-9_13_2018-4.png)
This example seems kind of silly. Why would I bother to copy ‘209’ and then paste it? OK, yes, that’s a fair question. So what if you want to select an entire row of a matrix (which could be too long to retype)? You can now do that as well.
![](https://www.altentertraining.com/wp-content/uploads/Blog-Post-9_13_2018-3-1024x487.png)
Select your row (or column) and right click. Follow the Copy command, and choose Copy Selection. Open Excel, and CTRL-V (paste) Here’s what you will see in Excel:
![](https://www.altentertraining.com/wp-content/uploads/Blog-Post-9_13_2018-5.png)
I think Copy selection is more useful than Copy value but, like everything in life, it depends your use case. Either way, I am happy that this feature is available.