SketchUp Generate Report: How to Set It Up and What It Cannot Report

In SketchUp, File > Generate Report opens a template manager that turns the objects in your model into a table: one row per component definition, one column per attribute, run on screen and downloaded as CSV. It counts and sums objects and their attributes; it does not measure face areas, edge lengths or material coverage, and for those a spreadsheet-style takeoff such as SheetUp fits better.

What Generate Report does

It is the built-in component report: you describe which objects to read, which attributes to show as columns and how to group them, and SketchUp builds the table (SketchUp help). The 2022 SketchUp blog puts the idea in one line: one row per component, each column an attribute (SketchUp blog). The blog says SketchUp Pro can generate such reports; a forum moderator adds that SketchUp Go does not have the command (SketchUp forum). The help pages do not name an edition, so confirm against your own plan.

The default template, Component Quantities, groups by Definition Name and reports Quantity. That alone answers “how many of each component”. Everything below is about going beyond that default.

Step by step, from the File menu

1. Open the manager. Choose File > Generate Report. The Template Manager lists the templates available, with buttons for Run, Edit, Duplicate, Delete, Save to model, and Export or Import as a .grt file.
2. Duplicate before you edit. Select Component Quantities and press Duplicate, so the default stays intact, then Edit the copy.
3. Set the scope. A template reads either the entire model or the current selection. Pick the selection for a single room or floor, and select the objects before you run it.
4. Filter by nesting level. Level 1 is the root model and level 2 is the top-level objects. The field accepts ranges such as 2-4, 6, which keeps nested content from being counted at the wrong depth.
5. Choose Group By. Drag attributes from the model attribute list into the Group By area. Objects that share the same value are collapsed into one row with a count.
6. Choose the columns. Drag attributes into Report Attributes; their vertical order is the left-to-right column order. The gear icon on a column sets a custom display name.
7. Add subtotals and totals. Aggregation can list unique values with counts, give a subtotal (the value multiplied by the quantity) and a total sum for the group.
8. Set units. Select Units overrides the model units (Architectural, Decimal, Engineering, Fractional Inches) with a precision setting.
9. Run it. Run shows a preview on screen. From there you download a CSV that opens in a spreadsheet or can be inserted as a table in LayOut. The help pages mention no other output format.
10. Keep the template. Save it in the .skp with Save to model, or export it as a .grt to reuse in other files; a template can also live in a SketchUp model template, so new files start with it.

Attributes you can use as columns

The help page names Definition Name, Type, Price, Classifier Type, Tag, Owner, Status, Quantity, Volume and the bounding-box lengths LenX, LenY and LenZ, plus attributes added by extensions and Dynamic Component options (SketchUp help). Attributes are best supported for components. Groups have no shared definition, so they do not update when edited, which is why a model built from groups reports poorly. LenX stays tied to the component’s own axes, so a rotated component still reports the same length (SketchUp blog).

Custom attributes added in the Component Attributes dialog can hold formulas, for example a paint area, a cost per component or a kerf-adjusted length. That is how the table gets prices: there is no unit-price list inside the command, so Price has to exist as an attribute on each component (SketchUp forum).

A worked template

Take a small interior with windows, doors and base cabinets, each modeled as a component with a Price attribute. The template: scope Entire model, nesting level 2, Group By Definition Name, columns Definition Name, Quantity and Price, with a subtotal on Price and a total for the group. The table below illustrates the shape of the result. The figures are invented for this illustration, not taken from a real model, and the exact arrangement of the cells depends on how you set the aggregation.

Definition Name	Quantity	Price	Subtotal (Price x Quantity)
Window 1200×900	3	420.00	1,260.00
Door 900×2100	2	380.00	760.00
Base cabinet 600	5	210.00	1,050.00
Total			3,070.00

Every subtotal is the Price multiplied by the Quantity of its row (3 × 420.00 = 1,260.00), and the total is the sum of the subtotals (1,260.00 + 760.00 + 1,050.00 = 3,070.00).

If Generate Report is not working: an empty or unexpected table

Go through these in order; each follows from how the template is defined above.

• Edition. If the command is missing from the File menu, check your plan: a forum reply says Go does not include it (SketchUp forum).
• Scope. A template set to the current selection reports only what is selected. Switch it to the entire model, or select first.
• Nesting level. If the range leaves out the level the objects sit on, they are skipped. Level 2 holds the top-level objects; components inside a group are deeper.
• Groups instead of components. Groups have no shared definition, so a Definition Name grouping cannot merge them. Make components of the repeated objects.
• Missing attribute. A column such as Price stays empty on objects that do not carry it. Add the attribute to the component definition, not to one instance.
• Stale result. The CSV is a snapshot. A moderator confirmed there is no live update; run the template again (SketchUp forum).

From the preview to CSV or LayOut

After Run, download the CSV and open it in Excel or any spreadsheet. In LayOut, insert it as a table so the schedule sits on the drawing sheet. Because the file is values only, formatting, extra totals and pricing rules are added in the spreadsheet. The same hand-off from SketchUp to a spreadsheet is covered in exporting a material list from SketchUp to Excel, and the extension options are compared in SketchUp quantity takeoff extensions.

What it cannot report

Generate Report reads objects (components and groups) and their attributes, nothing more. Forum posts give the limits in plain words:

• Areas and edge lengths. A user wrote in November 2021 that it “can’t work out areas”, “can’t deal with edge lengths (just bounding box lengths)” and “can’t report face areas & materials” (SketchUp forum, 2021-11-02).
• Material area. A December 2017 thread concluded that it does not count material area (SketchUp forum). The per-material figure comes from a different command: right-click a material, Area, Material (SketchUp help). For how face and material areas are measured, see SketchUp surface area calculation.
• Live links. No live update of the spreadsheet; generate a new one (SketchUp forum, 2023-11-22).
• Prices. No built-in unit price; the price has to be an attribute of the component (SketchUp forum). I found no built-in waste allowance either; users add waste afterwards in a spreadsheet, which is a user report, not a documented statement.
• Totals across a whole sheet. A September 2023 poster complained that it does not total results for you (SketchUp forum), although the template editor does offer a subtotal and a group total, as described above.

When a spreadsheet-style takeoff fits better

If the quantities you need are surface area per material, volume of closed solids, length or count by tag, with waste and tax added to a price, work from measured rows instead of attributes. SheetUp (SketchUp 2022 and newer, English interface) does this: you add rows yourself, each a SketchUp object, a tag, a material or a custom line. A material row measures the surface area of all faces painted with that material, and the measures include Count, Length, Width, Height, Surface area, Area W×H, Volume and Weight. Cost per row is Quantity × Factor × Unit cost, with Waste % and Tax % on top. Rows re-measure about a second and a half after the model changes, and the table is stored in the .skp.

It exports one flat Excel sheet in which line costs and totals are live formulas, plus CSV (values only) and an HTML report, and it can import lines from an exported XLSX or CSV. It has limits you should know about. Volume and weight are exact only for closed solids; open shapes show an estimate. Weight needs a density you type, with a default of 0. Grouping and report layout are done in Excel, there is no PDF export, and a parent row and a child row added together count the child twice. Items deleted from the model stay as “not found” rows with quantity 0. It does not read classifications or Dynamic Component attributes. Adding, viewing, editing and pricing rows is unlimited; each saved XLSX, CSV or HTML file uses one of a limited number of free exports per day.

The two are not exclusive. Generate Report suits a quick component count from attributes you already maintain; a measured table suits material areas and priced estimates.

Two neighbouring tasks have their own walkthroughs: counting nested components and measuring length, curves and trim.

What I could not check

• The Volume column: whether it needs solid groups or components, and what it returns for open geometry.
• Whether any built-in area column exists in the current release.
• How the command changed between versions 2023 and 2026; the forum quotes date from 2017 to 2023.
• About 60% of the two help pages was not read, so a template option not mentioned here may exist.
• Edition availability rests on a moderator’s forum reply, not on an official plan comparison.
• Whether the SketchUp for web version offers Generate Report; the forum thread only says it lacks Model Info > Statistics.

Sources

• SketchUp help: Using SketchUp’s Generate Report Service and Generating an attribute report (opened 2026-11-10)
• SketchUp blog: Generating reports from your models (2022)
• SketchUp help: Calculating material area
• Forum: Bill of materials; Open up Generate Report to API (2021-11-02); Generate report by material (December 2017); Report generator (2023-11-22); Is there a simple takeoff calculator (September 2023)
• SheetUp behaviour: read from the extension’s documentation and source, 2026-11-10.

FAQ

Does SketchUp Go have Generate Report?
A forum moderator answered a user that Go does not have it and that SketchUp Pro and Studio do (SketchUp forum). That is a forum reply, not an official comparison table, and the official help pages do not name an edition, so check the feature list of your own plan.

Can Generate Report calculate areas?
Not face areas. In a 2021 forum thread a user wrote that it “can’t work out areas” and reports bounding-box lengths rather than edge lengths (SketchUp forum). For the area of one material, SketchUp has a separate command: right-click the material, then Area, then Material (SketchUp help).

Does the exported spreadsheet update when the model changes?
No. A moderator replied in 2023 that it will not do a live update of the Excel file, but you can always generate a new spreadsheet (SketchUp forum). Run the template again after the model changes.

Why does Generate Report show an empty or unexpected table?
The usual causes are in the checklist above: the scope is set to a selection, the nesting-level filter leaves out the level your objects sit on, the objects are groups instead of components, or the attribute you chose does not exist on those objects.