Export content items to CSV

Export a view to a CSV file when you want a backup, a spreadsheet to share, or the starting point for a bulk edit. The file contains the items the view's filter selects.

What you need

• Access to the content type.
• A view that shows the items you want. The export applies the view's filter and sort, so create or edit a view first if you need a subset; see Modify, create and publish a list view.

Export a view

1. Click the content type in the sidebar, then use the View menu to switch to the view you want if it is not already open.
2. Open the View menu again and choose one of:
   • Export view to CSV: only the columns that the view shows, in the view's order.
   • Export all fields to CSV: the built-in columns (Id, PrimaryField, CreationTime, CreatorUser, LastModificationTime, LastModifierUser, IsDraft, IsPublished, Template, RoutePath) followed by every field of the content type.
3. Watch the status panel. It first says "Export started. The file appears below when it is ready."
4. When the task finishes, click the Download link with the file's name.

The export runs as a background task, so large exports do not block you. You can also follow it under Background tasks in the sidebar.

The file is named with the export time followed by the view's developer name, for example <timestamp>-events.csv. It is also saved in the media library, so you can fetch it again later from Media.

What is in the file

• Which items. Every item that matches the view's filter, in the view's sort order. This includes drafts and unpublished items, not only published ones. A view with no filter exports every item of the content type. The URL's search or filter on the list page is not used.
• Which values. The published version of each item. Unpublished draft edits are not exported.
• Column headings. Developer names, not labels.
• Dates and times follow your organization's date format and time zone.
• The Template column holds the template's label, such as Content item detail view.
• Deleted items are not included. They are in the trash; see Restore deleted content items.

Which export should I use?

You want to…	Use
Share a simple list in a spreadsheet	Export view to CSV, after setting the view's columns
Back up content	Export all fields to CSV
Bulk-edit items and import them again	Export all fields to CSV, because it includes Id. See Import content items from CSV

Gotchas

• You cannot import an export unchanged. Replace the Template labels with template developer names first.
• A CSV is not a full backup. It holds values, not revisions, files or templates. The files behind Attachment fields are not inside the CSV.
• The file appears in the media library and stays there. Delete it from Media if it contains data you do not want to keep around.
• If the export fails or the link does not appear, open Background tasks to see the task's status message.

Next steps

• Import content items from CSV
• Modify, create and publish a list view
• The media library