Usage report is corrupted or unreadable - how to open REPORT-xxxx.csv.gz

Symptoms / Triggers
You may need this article if you experience any of the following after downloading a usage report from HERE platform portal - Usage dashboard:

"The report is corrupted when unzipped" or "CSV is corrupted/illegible."
"I downloaded the zip but the extracted file is blank / unreadable." (Customers often say "zip" even when the file is actually .gz.)
The downloaded file name looks like REPORT-xxxxx.csv.gz, but on your computer it may appear as REPORT-xxxxx.csv (file extensions can be hidden), and opening it directly in Excel/Notepad produces garbage or a blank file.
The downloaded report shows 0 KB or looks incomplete.

Quick answer
Usage reports are commonly delivered as a gzip-compressed CSV file (.csv.gz). To read it, you must decompress the .gz first, then open the resulting .csv. If you try to open *.csv.gz directly in Excel, it can look "corrupted" even though it’s just compressed.

How to unzip/open .gz usage reports (Windows, macOS, Linux)

Windows (GUI – easiest)
+ Use 7‑Zip to extract the .gz, then open the .csv.

macOS
+ Finder: double‑click the .gz to extract (built-in).
+ Terminal: gunzip filename.gz

Linux
+ Terminal: gunzip filename.gz or gzip -d filename.gz

Note:
A plain .gz typically contains one file (your CSV). If you have .tar.gz / .tgz, use tar -xzf ... (not typical for usage CSVs).

Troubleshooting when it still looks "corrupted" after correct decompression

1) Confirm you’re opening the extracted .csv, not the .csv.gz
Several customer cases were driven by confusion around the double extension (.csv.gz), especially when file extensions are hidden and the file appears to be just .csv.

2) Check whether the download is incomplete (e.g., 0 KB)
If the downloaded report file size is 0 KB (or unusually small), the file will fail to decompress or appear blank.

3) If the same date range repeatedly fails, it may be a portal-side generation issue
In at least one reported case, support replicated corruption for a specific range (e.g., March 1–March 31) while other ranges worked, indicating this may not always be a local unzip issue.

When to contact support (what to include so support can reproduce quickly)
If the report is still unreadable after you decompress correctly, open a support case and include:

Your Organization ID (portal org)
The date range you used (example ranges were explicitly mentioned by customers)
The downloaded file (original .csv.gz) and, if possible, the extracted .csv
If available, the report identifier/filename (customers referenced report files by name/number)

Applies to

Usage reports downloaded from the HERE platform portal Usage dashboard
* Unzipping or opening them the downloaded usage reports

Searchable tags
usage report; csv.gz; gunzip; 7‑Zip; unzip; corrupted csv; unreadable; file extension; report download; Excel open