CSV export from AI/BI Dashboard table widget does not preserve visual column order

Pavel_Sinkevich — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 14:27:14 GMT

Summary

When downloading data as CSV from a table widget on an AI/BI Dashboard (kebab menu → Download → Data → Download CSV), the column order in the exported file does not match the column order displayed in the dashboard. All aggregated (measure) columns are placed before dimension columns, regardless of how columns are arranged in the widget configuration.

Steps to reproduce

Create an AI/BI Dashboard with a table widget containing both dimension and measure columns
Arrange columns in the widget so that dimensions appear before measures (e.g., product_name, product_type, …, SUM(available_stock), sum(reserved_stock))
Click the kebab menu (⋮) on the widget → Download → Data → Download CSV
Open the downloaded CSV file and inspect the column headers

Expected behavior

The CSV column order matches the column order configured in the table widget on the dashboard canvas.

Actual behavior

Aggregated columns (sum(...)) are moved to the beginning of the CSV, before all dimension columns. For example:

sum(available_stock), sum(reserved_stock), product_name, product_type, ...

Instead of the dashboard order:

product_name, product_type, ..., sum(available_stock), sum(reserved_stock)

Impact

Users who rely on CSV exports for downstream processing or reporting receive columns in an unexpected order, requiring manual reordering every time. This is particularly disruptive when exports are shared with non-technical stakeholders who expect the CSV to mirror the dashboard layout.

Environment

Databricks AI/BI Dashboards (Lakeview)

Re: CSV export from AI/BI Dashboard table widget does not preserve visual column order

tom_n — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 16:24:04 GMT

I had a go at reproducing this on a current AI/BI build and couldn't get a plain table widget to misbehave. I built a table grouping dimensions plus sum(...) measures, arranged dimensions-first, and the exported CSV kept that order every time.

I tested three ways: a small result (client-side export), a result over 64,000 rows (which forces the server-side export path), and a case where the widget's query listed the measures first while the display showed dimensions first. In all three the CSV column order matched the screen.

So the trigger looks specific to your setup rather than table exports in general. A few questions to narrow it down:

1. Is the widget a plain Table, or a Pivot table (or a table exported with the pivot option)? Pivot exports use a different serialisation path, and there's a known issue there with columns not lining up in the exported file that's being worked on.
2. How many rows does the table return, and does the download arrive instantly or after a short "preparing" delay?
3. Did you drag columns to reorder them in the dashboard view before exporting? A reorder in the viewer isn't always saved back to the widget, so the export can fall back to the original order.
4. Any calculated fields, renamed columns, or conditional formatting on the table?
5. Which cloud, region, and browser? Export behaviour has shifted across builds, so this helps work out whether it's already been fixed.

topic CSV export from AI/BI Dashboard table widget does not preserve visual column order in Data Engineering

CSV export from AI/BI Dashboard table widget does not preserve visual column order

Re: CSV export from AI/BI Dashboard table widget does not preserve visual column order