How to Export Pandas DataFrame to CSV (With Example)

You can use the following syntax to export a pandas DataFrame to a CSV file:

df.to_csv(r'C:UsersBobDesktopmy_data.csv', index=False)

Note that index=False tells Python to drop the index column when exporting the DataFrame. Feel free to drop this argument if you’d like to keep the index column.

The following step-by-step example shows how to use this function in practice.

Step 1: Create the Pandas DataFrame

First, let’s create a pandas DataFrame:

import pandas as pd

#create DataFrame
df = pd.DataFrame({'points': [25, 12, 15, 14, 19, 23],
                   'assists': [5, 7, 7, 9, 12, 9],
                   'rebounds': [11, 8, 10, 6, 6, 5]})

#view DataFrame
df

points	assists	rebounds
0	25	5	11
1	12	7	8
2	15	7	10
3	14	9	6
4	19	12	6
5	23	9	5

Step 2: Export the DataFrame to CSV File

Next, let’s export the DataFrame to a CSV file:

#export DataFrame to CSV file
df.to_csv(r'C:UsersBobDesktopmy_data.csv', index=False)

Step 3: View the CSV File

Lastly, we can navigate to the location where we exported the CSV file and view it:

points,assists,rebounds
25,5,11
12,7,8
15,7,10
14,9,6
19,12,6
23,9,5

Notice that the index column is not in the file since we specified index=False.

Also notice that the headers are in the file since the default argument in the to_csv() function is headers=True.

Just for fun, here’s what the CSV file would look like if we had left out the index=False argument:

,points,assists,rebounds
0,25,5,11
1,12,7,8
2,15,7,10
3,14,9,6
4,19,12,6
5,23,9,5

Reference the pandas documentation for an in-depth guide to the to_csv() function.

Additional Resources

How to Read CSV Files with Pandas
How to Read Excel Files with Pandas
How to Export a Pandas DataFrame to Excel
How to Export NumPy Array to CSV File