Sorry if I asked this years ago, but is there really no way to globally set it so every export uses excel format? Or even CSV? Anything but Tab... I'd love to set it on my Filemaker client and have it stick. Barring that I could go into every export and set it, but it seems like if I set it, I have to specify a file name and location, but not all users want to save it in the same spot, and when I turn that off it gets rid of the "save as excel" option.
Also is there some way to have Filemaker remember "always open file after downloading"?
I tried saving a specific report to downloads, specifying Excel and always open, but the data person doesn't use the downloads folder and instead of failing gracefully it just borks the entire export.
I provide users with an Export scripted button in the UI (Button bar at the top of all pertinent layouts (No FMP status bar ever). Most of my users want exports to go to the desktop, but in some cases they want it elsewhere (e.g. a folder on the desktop). One can provide options in the export dialog (e.g. a card window) to set variables/global fields to be applied to the export $path. I prefer to always apply custom menus and provide such export functionality in my UI/UX. My 2¢ 
Thanks for this. Can you clarify the card window comment? Most of the exports that I've scripted are from the reports screen as the schools I work with have a lot of internal and state reporting to do. How does one go about selecting a path for export, or do you give them multiple choices (i.e. Desktop vs Downloads)?
@JasonMark , I was referring to a UI/UX workflow that involves two scripts: The first is a simple "Export" button which simply opens a card window (acting as a dialog 'modal') with a few options on it to define the path via global fields where one can select from a pop-up menu (or even radio buttons) to set the path (downloads, desktop, something else your client needs).
On that card window would be two buttons: "Proceed" (or whatever) and "Cancel". The "Proceed" button calls the real export script that uses the global field content to define the export path and whatever other options for which you provide. The values entered can be leveraged as "parameters" with IF-Else If- Else, or call subscripts for each option via a case statement, etc. You can even include a checkbox on the card (boolean true [1] ) to specify to automatically open the exported file in Excel, or not.
Edit to add: Close the card window ('dialog') before running the export steps to re-establish context. Otherwise you'd need to open a floating document window (off-screen) and recreate the found set, etc. And in this scenario, the card window can simply be based on the "Globals" table with the appropriate global storage fields for this purpose. (All of my solutions get a "Globals" table for these kinds of tasks, reporting, etc.)
Edit #2: In some cases, I let the user define the found set on the card window instead of first finding the set. E.g. the card window has date range pickers and such. A popover can also be used in lieu of a card window if preferred (eliminating the need for a script to open a card). Like most things 'FMP', several options.
got it, thank you for explaining!