Add 'Email To' Option Instead of Default Export in SSRS ReportViewer

Question

Add 'Email To' Option Instead of Default Export in SSRS ReportViewer

Akshayaa Kalyanavenkatesh 60

I'm using the SSRS ReportViewer control. The built-in 'Export' option opens the report in a new window, which is a security risk. I want to replace it with an 'Email to' option instead — is that possible?
Alternatively, are there other measures we can implement to mitigate the security vulnerability introduced by the Export feature?

1 answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Azar 30,735 MVP Volunteer Moderator

Hi there Akshayaa Kalyanavenkatesh

Thanks for using QandA platform

The ReportViewer control doesn’t support swapping out the built-in Export dropdown for a custom “Email to” option. If you need that , try to hide/disable the Export button and implement your own custom button in the app that renders the report and then emails it using SSRS server-side subscriptions or by programmatically exporting to PDF/Excel with the LocalReport.Render method and sending it via SMTP.

If security is the concern, you could also lock down which export formats are available (by editing RSReportServer.config) or wrap the exported file handling with your own logic. In short, you can’t directly repurpose Export as “Email to,” but you can disable it and provide your own safer alternative.

If this helps kindly accept the answer thanks much.

Akshayaa Kalyanavenkatesh 60 Reputation points

2025-09-16T06:44:09.5466667+00:00

Thanks for the reply. I had already tried hiding the default export and designed a new customized export menu; however, since I am using cookieless authentication, the session ID and forms authentication token are still being appended to the URL, which continues to pose a security issue. I was considering the URL Rewrite module, but it will not work for this use case. Could you please suggest any alternative approaches, to secure or hide the URL?

Thanks,
Akshayaa
Akhil Gajavelly 645 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-10-23T09:50:03.2266667+00:00
Hi @Akshayaa Kalyanavenkatesh ,

You cannot directly replace the built-in Export dropdown in ReportViewer with an “Email to” option. However, here’s a safe and fully workable approach.

Hide or disable the default Export button in the ReportViewer.

Render the report server-side (PDF, Excel, etc.) using LocalReport.Render or the SSRS REST/SOAP API.

Email the rendered report to users via SMTP.

Example in C#:

byte[] bytes = reportViewer.LocalReport.Render("PDF");

using var client = new SmtpClient("smtp.server.com");

var mail = new MailMessage("@domain.com", "@domain.com")

{Subject = "Report",Body = "Please find the attached report.",};

mail.Attachments.Add(new Attachment(new MemoryStream(bytes), "Report.pdf"));

client.Send(mail);
Alternatively, you could also use SSRS subscriptions to automatically email reports.

Thanks,
Akhil.

Share via

Add 'Email To' Option Instead of Default Export in SSRS ReportViewer

1 answer

Your answer