diff --git a/backend/controllers/transactionController.js b/backend/controllers/transactionController.js
index ad25dcb..d811b9a 100644
--- a/backend/controllers/transactionController.js
+++ b/backend/controllers/transactionController.js
@@ -342,7 +342,8 @@ const deleteCategory = async (req, res) => {
 
 const exportTransactions = async (req, res) => {
   try {
-    const transactions = await IncomeExpense.find({ user: req.user._id, isDeleted: false }).lean();
+    const userId = req.user._id || req.user.id;
+    const transactions = await IncomeExpense.find({ user: userId, isDeleted: false }).lean();
 
     const csvData = transactions.map(({ _id, user, name, category, cost, addedOn, isIncome }) => ({
       id: _id,
@@ -354,8 +355,11 @@ const exportTransactions = async (req, res) => {
       isIncome,
     }));
 
-    // Use Papa.unparse directly
-    const csv = Papa.unparse(csvData, { header: true });
+    // Use Papa.unparse directly with explicit columns for reliability even on empty datasets
+    const csv = Papa.unparse(csvData, {
+      header: true,
+      columns: ['id', 'user', 'name', 'category', 'cost', 'addedOn', 'isIncome'],
+    });
 
     res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'text/csv');
     res.setHeader('Content-Disposition', 'attachment; filename="paisable_transactions.csv"');
diff --git a/frontend/src/utils/transactions.js b/frontend/src/utils/transactions.js
index 37c115e..93ba2f0 100644
--- a/frontend/src/utils/transactions.js
+++ b/frontend/src/utils/transactions.js
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ export const handleExportCSV = async () => {
     const res = await api.get('/transactions/export', {
       responseType: 'blob', // Important for file download
     });
-    const blob = new Blob([res.data], { type: 'text/csv' });
+    const blobData = res.data instanceof Blob ? res.data : new Blob([res.data], { type: 'text/csv;charset=utf-8;' });
+    const blob = new Blob([blobData], { type: 'text/csv;charset=utf-8;' });
     const url = window.URL.createObjectURL(blob);
     const a = document.createElement('a');
     a.href = url;