--- title: "Exporting & Backing Up Your Articles" description: "At HelpDocs we take regular backups of all your data, so you don't need to worry. That said, if you need a copy of your data for any reason, it's super easy to grab it from our API." url: "https://support.helpdocs.io/article/dx2tjoUS51-backing-up-your-articles" category: "Managing Content" updated_at: "2026-09-11T12:17:47Z" --- # Exporting & Backing Up Your Articles Exporting your content can be super useful if you want to do some advanced filtering, run through content during meetings, or swap to a [different platform](/article/9WWNm9f5h6-import-data-from-another-service). At HelpDocs we take [regular backups](/article/NbmuAjBwIO-security) of all your data so you don't need to worry about data loss in case of disaster. That said if you need a copy of your data for any reason, or just want to retain a previous state to refer to later, it's super easy to grab. The HelpDocs API is the most flexible way to export data. You can query articles by category and even select which fields you'd like to view. You can learn more about the API over in [our API docs](https://apidocs.helpdocs.io) 👾 ### Downloading a CSV File If you wanna grab a quick copy of all or some of your articles to use as a spreadsheet or import to another piece of software a CSV is the answer. #### Exporting All Content to CSV [Embedded iframe](https://player.vimeo.com/video/1214959371) You have a few options when downloading to CSV: - Include [working copy](/article/a8f97wn0us-creating-draft-versions-of-published-articles-with-working-copy) - Include body - Include both - Include neither (recommended) 1. Head to **Settings** > **Migrations** 2. Under **Export & Backup** click ![](https://files.helpdocs.io/Ytt2uahFxY/articles/dx2tjoUS51/1785677059308/three-lines-icon.svg) more next to **CSV** 3. Select your option #### Export Selected Content to CSV You also have the option to export some of your content to CSV. This is super useful when you only want to upload certain content somewhere else or run through a selected amount of content in meetings. [Embedded iframe](https://player.vimeo.com/video/1214959597) 1. Head to **Content** (or [click here](https://my.helpdocs.io/app/content)) 2. Select which categories or individual articles you want to export using the checkboxes 3. To the top right click the **Export ↓** button 4. Select [which option](#csv_download_options) you'd like to download 5. You're done ✨ #### CSV Download Options Option Description Additional Columns **Include Working Copy** Adds `has_working_copy` column and uses the working copy for `text`, `body`, and `description` fields `has_working_copy` **Include Body** Includes the `text` and `body` fields If your articles contain extremely large amounts of content, the CSV export may time out. In that case, use the ZIP export or the API instead. `text`, `body` **Include Both** Combines both options above. Includes working copy data plus text and body fields `has_working_copy`, `text`, `body` **Include Neither** (default) Includes only an `excerpt` field (the first 1000 characters of the article body) and no data about Working Copy This is the default for CSV exports `excerpt` All export options include these base columns: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------|-------|-------------|------|---------------|-------------|-----------|--------------|----------|--------------|-----|---------------|--------------|-----------------|---------------|-------------------------|-----------|---------------|---------------|----------------------|-------------|-------------| | article\_id | title | description | tags | is\_published | is\_private | show\_toc | editor\_type | user\_id | author\_name | url | relative\_url | category\_id | category\_title | category\_url | category\_relative\_url | is\_stale | stale\_reason | stale\_source | stale\_triggered\_at | updated\_at | created\_at | ##### Multilingual Columns If you're running a [multilingual Knowledge Base](/article/43QNppaDit-setting-up-multilingual-docs), your CSV export will also include columns for each secondary language. For example, with French as a secondary language, you'll see these additional columns: | | | | | | | | | |-----------|----------|-----------------|----------|-------------|----------|----------|---------------------| | title\_fr | slug\_fr | description\_fr | tags\_fr | excerpt\_fr | text\_fr | body\_fr | category\_title\_fr | These columns follow the same pattern for any other secondary languages you have enabled—just replace the language code accordingly (es for Spanish, de for German, etc.). This makes it super easy to manage and review all your translations in one place 🌍 ### Downloading a ZIP File You can export your categories and articles to a *.zip* file. It'll sort them out into folders for you with metadata included as *.yaml* files. ZIP exports are perfect if you're migrating to a different platform, need version-controlled backups, or want a local copy of your entire Knowledge Base structure. Each category becomes a folder, articles are saved as markdown files, and metadata lives in separate YAML files. 1. Head to **Settings** > **Migrations** 2. Under **Export & Backup** click ![](https://files.helpdocs.io/Ytt2uahFxY/articles/dx2tjoUS51/1785677471325/three-lines-icon.svg) next to **ZIP** 3. Click **Download as ZIP** ### Exporting to Google Sheets Creating a Google Sheet of your articles is just as simple. 1. Head to **Settings** > **API** and [create an API key](/article/e2gilg5mkd-creating-and-managing-api-keys) 2. Create a new Google Sheet 3. In the top left cell, type **=IMPORTDATA("https://api.helpdocs.io/v1/article?format=csv&key=your\_api\_key")** Don't forget to replace *your\_api\_key* in the link above with the API key you just created. 4. Hit **Return** 5. **Save** your new sheet Google will pull all your articles from the HelpDocs API and display them in your sheet. You can download a copy of your data by going to *File > Download As*... and selecting a file format of your choice. A **.xls** file is a great choice 🙌 Excel, Google Sheets, or Numbers work best for opening as *.csv*. If you haven't got access to any of these, a simple text editor should do the trick.