What Krosstabs exports โ and how the files are structured.
Every export runs locally in your browser. No data is sent to a server. This guide explains variable name mapping, missing value handling, sig-letter encoding, and the expected structure of SPSS and Excel exports.
What you can download
Excel (.xlsx)
Available on all plans. Banner table results, SurveyStat significance results, and weight reports export as multi-sheet .xlsx workbooks with formatting, conditional highlighting, and significance letters.
SPSS (.sav + .sps syntax)
Available on Standard and Professional plans. Exports a CSV data file compatible with SPSS import, plus a .sps syntax file that applies variable labels, value labels, and missing value declarations.
CSV (.csv)
Plain CSV export of results tables and coded data. Available from SurveyStat and Open-End Coder. UTF-8 encoded, comma-delimited. Can be opened in Excel without any special settings.
Variable name mapping and file structure
SPSS has strict rules for variable names. Krosstabs applies these transformations automatically when generating the .sps syntax file and variable metadata.
Spaces replaced with underscores. Special characters (/, -, .) replaced with underscores. If the resulting name is longer than 64 characters, it is truncated. Example: "Q3_Brand awareness" โ Q3_Brand_awareness.
SPSS variable names cannot begin with a number. A column named "2024_revenue" becomes "v_2024_revenue".
Empty cells are encoded as SPSS system-missing (". "). Cells containing the string "NA", "N/A", or "NULL" are not automatically converted โ pre-clean these in Krosstabs Data Cleaner before export.
If weighting was applied, the final weight column is included as the last variable in the .sav output, named "weight_final". It is a numeric (F8.4) variable with no value labels.
Variable labels (the column header text) are included. Value labels (e.g. 1 = "Male", 2 = "Female") are not written into the .sav file yet. Apply value labels manually in SPSS after import using the provided .sps syntax file.
- Download both files from Krosstabs (the CSV and the .sps file)
- In SPSS: File โ Open โ Syntax, and open the .sps file
- Update the file path inside the syntax to point to the CSV on your machine
- Run All (Ctrl+Shift+A) to import data with labels and missing value codes applied
The data file is UTF-8 encoded. SPSS 26+ reads UTF-8 natively. Earlier versions may require setting the encoding in the syntax: SET UNICODE=YES.
Sig-letter encoding and workbook structure
Banner table exports to Excel preserve all significance indicators. Here is what to expect when opening a Krosstabs Excel file in any spreadsheet application.
Letters are appended directly to the percentage text, e.g. "42%แดฎ". They are standard Unicode superscript Latin letters (U+1D2EโU+1D2F range), not Excel superscript formatting. Recipients without Krosstabs can read them in any viewer.
If your banner table has multiple groups (e.g. Gender + Region + NPS), each group gets its own sheet tab, named after the group label. The Total column is included on every sheet.
"n=" counts appear in the first data row of each banner column, not in the column header. The header row contains the banner point label and letter only.
The Total column (base = all respondents, or all weighted respondents if weighting applied) appears as the last column in every banner group.
Net rows (e.g. Top 2 Box = codes 4+5) are rendered in italic in the Excel export to match the table view. They have a dashed top border.
Include a legend row below the banner table when sharing with clients: โLetters indicate that the column result is significantly higher than the column labelled with that letter, at 95% confidence.โ Most MR practitioners recognise this convention, but a written note prevents queries from non-MR reviewers.
Questions about your export?
Email support@krosstabs.com with the export file and a description of the issue. We respond within one business day.