# Take the folder with you, as you read it, whenever you want

> Everyone who reads a folder can download a copy of it at any time: the thread as a PDF and the original documents, according to their own view.

## A copy of the folder, without asking anyone

A client wants a record of what they approved. A subcontractor wants to find the photos they were sent. A firm has to file the folder under its own rules. In all three cases the usual solution is the same: write to someone so they gather the messages and documents, then wait.

Here, everyone helps themselves. Export is not reserved for closing: it is open at any time, on a folder in progress or a closed one.

## Everyone exports what they read

The export follows the view of whoever asks for it. A participant gets the folder as they read it, a participant with limited access gets what they can see, and a team member gets everything their role shows them. Nobody takes away what was hidden from them in the folder.

The **Export** menu offers:

- the thread as a PDF, with, as options, the cover page and its summary, the participants and their contact details, the custom fields, the comments, the voice notes, the reactions, the "Seen by" mention when the folder turns it on, and the history of edits
- the original documents, filed in the archive and prefixed with the day they were shared
- a limited period, based on the publication date, with comments following their publication

Before you start, the estimated size is shown. The archive also holds a README file that says which view it is, which period it covers and what each part contains.

Two choices stay with the team alone: a re-importable JSON package, to restore the folder in another workspace or another environment, and the participants' view, which shows only what the folder's participants read, with no internal note, no internal comment and no team-only field. Even if the request asks for them, they are refused to anyone outside the team.

## Prepared in the background, delivered by e-mail

The archive is prepared without blocking the screen: you can close the window. An e-mail gives the download link as soon as it is ready, and the "Export" window keeps it too. A guest with no e-mail address finds it there.

The link is valid for 7 days. At every download, the authorisation is checked again: if the person's access has been withdrawn in the meantime, or if the workspace has withdrawn export from their profile, the file does not go out.

A few safeguards frame the request:

- one export at a time per person and per folder
- 10 exports per person over 24 hours
- a PDF is refused beyond 1,500 publications: the export then suggests a shorter period, or exporting without the PDF
- an archive of more than 4,096 MB is refused, with the same advice

## In practice

**Building and renovation.** When the works are handed over, the client exports the thread as a PDF with the documents: the accepted quote, the photos, the decisions. They have their copy, and keep it without asking the company for anything more. A tradesperson with limited access takes away only what they could see.

**Law and accounting firms.** The firm exports a folder as a PDF with its documents to file it under its own retention rules, or takes the JSON package to restore it in another workspace. To answer a third party, it can export only the participants' view, without the internal notes.

## What it does not do

Export is not available everywhere. A trial folder cannot be exported, and a folder read through a simple link, such as an example folder or one waiting for its professional, is read without being downloaded.

The workspace can withdraw export from participants with limited access, from the "Security" tab of its settings. That setting does not affect other participants, who can always export. It applies when the request is made, when the archive is prepared and when it is downloaded, and it is never a revocation: turning it off gives export back to those it concerned.

An archive is not a vault with evidentiary value, and export does not replace your retention obligations. It is not done on someone's behalf either: an export stays attached to the person who requested it, and cannot be downloaded in their place.

An integration can also request the export through the API: the archive is prepared the same way, with the same limits.

## Read also

- [Closing and archiving](/en/features/closing-and-archiving), what a closed folder keeps for life
- [Document confidentiality](/en/features/document-confidentiality), what only the team and the named people read
- [Participants and team](/en/features/participants-and-team), full and limited access
- [API and integrations](/en/features/api-and-integrations), asking for an export from your tools