SketchUp Count Components: Nested Items, Lists and Export

To count components in SketchUp, use Model Info > Statistics for a model-wide total, Entity Info for what you have selected, and File > Generate Report for a list you can export as CSV. The totals differ between these tools because they count different things (definitions or placed copies, first level or every nesting level), so decide which number you need before you trust one.

Instances and definitions: what a count means

A component is a definition plus placed copies of it, called instances. In a forum thread on the statistics panel, an experienced user spells it out for a model with two copies: “There is 1 Component Definition and 2 Component Instances” (SketchUp forum, 2016). A takeoff almost always wants instances: ten identical windows are ten windows, one definition.

Groups behave differently. Per the help pages, groups do not share a central definition and do not update automatically, and attributes are best supported for components (SketchUp help). Ten copied groups are ten separate objects to the tools, which is why a model of groups is harder to count by name. Naming matters as well: the Definition field holds the component’s real name, while the Name field in Entity Info only describes one instance (SketchUp help).

Quick counts: Statistics, Entity Info and the Outliner

• Model Info > Statistics. The help page describes the pane only as keeping track of all the entities your model contains (SketchUp help). The 2016 thread above shows two details: it separates definitions from instances, and a “show nested components” option changes what is counted. I did not find a current help page that documents the columns, so read the pane in your own version.
• Entity Info. Select the objects and read the panel. In the counting thread a Ruby Console snippet returning selection.count was suggested, with the note that it does not traverse the children of a group (SketchUp forum, 2021). The same applies to any selection-based count: it is a count of what you selected, not of what is inside.
• Outliner. It shows groups, components and section planes as a tree; arrows expand nested entries, Details > Expand All opens everything, and a search box filters the list (SketchUp help). Use it to see what is nested where. The help page does not say it displays counts.

SketchUp list of components: Generate Report and CSV

The default template, Component Quantities, “lists out the names of all the components in your model and gives the quantity of each definition”, and the Run preview lets you download it as a .csv file (SketchUp help). It can also be limited to a selection and filtered by nesting level; the help page usually suggests level 2 when you only want top-level components. Setup steps and its limits are in the Generate Report guide, so they are not repeated here.

For nested content, a 2019 reply in the counting thread explains the numbering: the model is level 0 (the help page calls the root level 1) and “Entities that are nested in level 1 G&C’s get level 2” (SketchUp forum). Two sources, two numbering conventions: check what your version’s dialog shows before you type a range. The same thread notes the report is not live; generate it again after the model changes.

Why the numbers differ between tools

• Definitions versus instances. The same model reads as 1 or 2 in the two senses above.
• Nesting. A window inside a wall component is counted once per wall copy by a tool that walks every level, and not at all by one that reads only level 2. Users of Generate Report report that nested items go missing until the scope or levels are adjusted (SketchUp forum).
• Hidden objects. One 2014 poster found hidden components included in both the report and Model Info, and that each copy counted as 1 (SketchUp forum). Whether your version still does so is worth testing on a small model.
• Groups with the same name. Groups have no shared definition, so grouping by definition name cannot merge them.

Counting nested components in a spreadsheet-style takeoff

SheetUp (SketchUp 2022 and newer, English interface) turns the count into a row you add yourself. Choose Type Object for a single component or group, or Tag for everything on a tag; pick the Source from a searchable list that shows each name, its tag and “N instance(s)”; set the Input to Count. In the plugin, From selection ticks the selected components or their tags, nested items inside the selection included.

Count is the number of placed instances through every nesting level, and each placement multiplies. Illustration, with invented numbers: a chair component placed 3 times at the root, plus a group holding 2 chairs that is copied 4 times, gives 3 + 2 × 4 = 11 chairs. Component rows are keyed by definition name; a group is keyed by its own instance name (“Group” when unnamed), and same-named groups on one tag merge into one row, with a warning if their sizes differ. A Tag row shows “N component(s)” in the list and sums its members.

Things to watch:

• A Component row rolls up its nested parts. If you add a separate row for a part as well, it is counted again; nothing is deducted.
• Hidden tags and hidden objects are listed and measured, so they are included in the count.
• Loose faces and edges at the model root or directly inside a group are not components, so Object and Tag rows do not see them.
• Empty definitions are skipped.
• Rows re-measure about a second and a half after the model changes, and the table is stored in the .skp.

Export gives an Excel (.xlsx) sheet named Estimate, a CSV (values only) or an HTML report; Excel carries live formulas for line costs and totals. There is no quantity grand total across rows, so sum the Count column in Excel when you need one. Adding, viewing, editing and pricing rows is unlimited; each saved file uses one of a limited number of free exports per day. For prices and areas next to the counts, see exporting a material list to Excel and the takeoff extension comparison.

What I could not check

• The current help page for Model Info > Statistics: the page I opened does not document the columns, and the definitions-versus-instances wording comes from a 2016 forum thread.
• Whether the Outliner or Entity Info show instance counts in the newest releases.
• Whether hidden components are still counted by Generate Report and Statistics in 2026 versions (the evidence is from 2014).
• The level numbering of the current Generate Report dialog: the help page and a 2019 forum reply use different bases.
• A group that holds only edges in SheetUp: I expect it to show “not found” with quantity 0 but did not confirm it.
• About a third of the long help pages was not read, so a count option not mentioned here may exist.

Sources

• SketchUp help: Using SketchUp’s Generate Report Service; Hierarchies in the Outliner; Model Templates (Model Info panes); Working with Components in SketchUp (opened 2026-11-10)
• Forum: How to count components in groups and export data (2019 to 2021); Statistics of components (2016); Counting visible copies of components (2014); Nested components and reports
• SheetUp behaviour: read from the extension’s documentation and source, 2026-11-10.

FAQ

How do I count components in SketchUp?
For the whole model, open Model Info > Statistics and choose Components; for a quick check of what you have selected, read Entity Info. For a table you can keep, run File > Generate Report with its Component Quantities template and download the CSV (SketchUp help).

How do I get a list of components in SketchUp and export it?
Generate Report lists the component definitions with the quantity of each and lets you download the result as a CSV (SketchUp help). The Outliner shows the same objects as a tree, but the help page names no export command for it (SketchUp help).

Why does Generate Report not count components inside groups or other components?
The report filters by nesting level, and users report that nested items appear only when the level setting and scope allow it (SketchUp forum, SketchUp forum). Check that the range includes the deeper levels before assuming the count is wrong.

Why does the same component show different counts in different tools?
Tools disagree on what they count: unique definitions or placed instances, nested items or only the first level, hidden objects or only visible ones. The section on differing numbers above lists the usual causes.