Exporting a dataset

Getting data out for use elsewhere, and the question to ask before you build a weekly export habit.

Getting data out for use elsewhere, and the question to ask before you build a weekly export habit.

Export it

1. Build a report containing what you need.
2. Export it in the format you want.
3. Wait for it to be prepared; large exports take time.
4. Download it.

Export a report, not everything

Filtering and grouping before exporting gives you a file somebody can use. A raw dump of every ticket is a file somebody has to process before it answers anything.

The question worth asking

What happens to the file? If it is opened, a number is copied into a slide, and it is deleted, then a scheduled dashboard does the same job with none of the work.

Exports earn their place when the data goes into another system or another kind of analysis.

Watch the row limit

Exports are capped. A report near the limit truncates, and a truncated export looks complete, which is the dangerous version of this problem.

Check the row count against what you expected before using the file.

It contains personal data

Names, email addresses, and whatever customers wrote. Once exported it is outside Zendesk's controls, on somebody's laptop or in a shared folder.

Agree where these files may live before making them routine.

A recurring export is a system

The same export every week, feeding the same report, is an integration built out of manual steps. Worth treating as one: who does it when they are away, and what happens when the format changes.

See also

• Exporting ticket, user and organisation data
• Emailing a dashboard on a schedule
• Where is my export