Earlier I used to use a plugin for writing data into excel.But I found that it was very easy with codeigniter template parser. :) These are the steps. - Create an excel file (Here I have created testexcel.xls file inside upload folder) - Give read write permission for this upload folder and the files. - Load data from database. - Pass retrieved data into a template and return it as a string. - Then write that string into excel. Controller Model Views (This is the templete we use to create our table) user_details_csv.php That's all...No need any plugins or libraries.Here we can use styles as normal way we use to format a view.