Why there is no "download as Excel" button
GSTR-1 is filed against a schema, and the schema is expressed in JSON. The portal's export therefore gives you a JSON file, or a ZIP that contains one per return period. Excel is not an export option because the portal never needs it — it needs the machine-readable file.
So the question is not "where is the button", it is "which tool turns that JSON into a workbook without ruining it". There are three realistic answers.
Option 1 — the Offline Tool's own export
Recent builds of the GST Offline Tool can export imported data back to Excel. It works, with two caveats worth knowing before you rely on it:
- The tool is built to prepare a return, so the export mirrors its own worksheet layout rather than a review-friendly one. Sections come out the way the template wants them, not the way you would foot them.
- It is a Windows desktop application, and the same failure modes that stop it generating JSON (duplicate HSN under two rates, macros, running from the ZIP) also apply here.
Option 2 — a browser-side converter
Drop the JSON — or the ZIP straight from the portal — and get one sheet per section with a totals summary. Everything runs in the tab: parsing, section splitting and the XLSX build. You can load the page, disconnect the network, and it keeps working.
This matters more than it sounds. Most online GSTR-1 converters do the conversion on their own server. For a client's return that means supplier GSTINs, the full invoice register and turnover leave your machine — and if your engagement letter has a confidentiality clause, that is your problem, not the website's.
GSTR-1 JSON to Excel — covers B2B, B2CL, B2CS, CDNR, CDNUR, EXP, HSN, DOC, NIL, AT and the amendments, one row per item because a single invoice can carry two rates under one HSN.
Option 3 — Power Query inside Excel
No third party involved: Data → Get Data → From File → From JSON, then expand the nested columns one by one. Free, and it keeps everything local.
The cost is time. Expanding a full year of returns by hand takes far longer than importing one file, it needs Office 365 or Excel 2019 and above, and every section has its own nesting to expand. Fine for one client and one month; painful for a practice.
Which one to use
| Offline Tool export | Browser converter | Power Query | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takes the portal ZIP directly | After import | Yes | No — one file at a time |
| File leaves your machine | No | No | No |
| One sheet per section | Template layout | Yes | Manual expansion |
| Totals you can check | No | Yes, computed from rows | Build them yourself |
| Install required | Windows app | None | Office 365 / 2019+ |
| Several months at once | One at a time | Drop them together, merged | One at a time |
What the workbook looks like
One sheet per section, named after the section — B2B, B2CL, B2CS, CDNR, EXP, HSN, DOC, NIL. Empty sections are skipped instead of leaving blank sheets. A Summary sheet sits first with records, taxable value and IGST/CGST/SGST/Cess per section plus a TOTAL line, computed from the rows rather than copied from the file.
HSN codes stay text on purpose: 0401 does not become 401. Invoice numbers keep their leading zeros. Dates keep the portal's own DD-MM-YYYY format so nothing is re-interpreted on the way in.