Exporting & backing up your data
Pick what to export, choose CSV or JSON, and find the downloaded file so you always have your own copy.
By the end you'll be able to pick exactly what to export, choose a file type, and find the downloaded file on your computer — for safekeeping, for moving to another system, or just for peace of mind.
Wattle keeps your data safe in the cloud, but it's always sensible to keep your own copy too. This page shows you how to make one. Nothing here changes or deletes any of your records — exporting only ever reads your data and hands you a copy.
This page is the bulk export — the whole clinic at once. If you only want one animal's history as a file (to send to a referral vet or hand to an owner), don't come here — open the patient and use ⋯ → Generate history PDF instead. See Patients & Records → Generate a patient history PDF. The export tool below is for backing up everything — every client, patient, invoice and so on — in one go.
Who can do this? Exporting is limited to admin and vet accounts. If you're signed in as front-desk or nurse, you won't see it in Settings — that's by design, not a fault. (The per-patient Generate history PDF option, by contrast, is available to anyone who can open a patient.) See Your team & permissions.
Where to find it
Everything on this page lives in one place: Settings → Import & Export, on the Export tab.
- Open Settings from the main menu.
- In the left-hand list, click Import & Export, then the Export tab. (If your account only has export permission, the page opens straight onto exporting — no tab bar.)
If there's no Import & Export entry in the Settings sidebar, your account may not have permission — ask whoever set up your clinic.
The export screen at a glance
The screen has three parts, top to bottom:
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Data to Export | Eight tick-boxes — one per type of record. A Select All / Deselect All button sits top-right. |
| Export Options | Choose the file type (CSV or JSON), and an optional date range. |
| Export Data button | The blue button at the bottom that starts the download. |
When everything is set, you press one button and your browser downloads a single file. That's the whole job.
Export your clinic data
Make a backup of your clinic data
Usually: admin or practice manager
Quick version — Settings → Import & Export → Export tab → leave everything ticked → pick CSV or JSON → Export Data. The file lands in your Downloads folder as wattle-export-YYYY-MM-DD.
Step by step
- Go to Settings → Import & Export and open the Export tab.
- Look at the Data to Export card. By default all eight record types are ticked. For a full backup, leave them all ticked.
- Under Export Options, choose a format:
- CSV (ZIP archive) — best if you want to open the data in Excel or Numbers. (More on this below.)
- JSON — best if a developer or another system is going to read the file.
- Leave the Date Range fields blank to export everything.
- Click the blue Export Data button.
- A progress bar appears, showing which record type it's working on and how many records it has gathered. This can take a few seconds — that's normal.
- When it finishes, your browser downloads the file automatically. Look in your Downloads folder.
The downloaded file is named with today's date, like wattle-export-2026-06-02.zip (for CSV) or wattle-export-2026-06-02.json (for JSON).
If something looks wrong
- The button says Exporting... and nothing seems to happen → It's still working. Bigger clinics take longer. The progress bar and the "records fetched" count tell you it's busy, not stuck. Give it a moment.
- A red message appears instead of a download → The export ran into a problem (often a brief network hiccup). Check your internet connection and click Export Data again. If it keeps failing, ask your clinic admin — they may need to check your account's permissions. See If something looks wrong — troubleshooting & FAQ.
Choose which records to export
Usually: admin or practice manager
Quick version — Tick only what you need, or use Select All / Deselect All (top-right of the Data to Export card).
You don't have to export everything. The eight tick-boxes let you pick exactly what you want:
| Tick-box | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Clients | Pet owners and their contact details. |
| Patients | The animals — also brings their reminders and alerts. |
| Appointments | Booked appointments from the schedule. |
| Consultations | Visit notes — also brings any prescriptions written. |
| Invoices | Invoices — also brings their line items and payments. |
| Ledger Entries | The money trail (charges, payments, credits). |
| Catalogue Items | Your products and services with prices. |
| Communications | Emails and messages sent to clients. |
Step by step
- To export just one or two things, click each tick-box you want and leave the rest unticked.
- To grab everything at once, click Select All (top-right). The same button then reads Deselect All if you want to clear them and start again.
Good to know — you get a little extra. Some record types quietly bring related information along, so your backup is complete. Ticking Patients also exports their reminders and alerts. Consultations brings prescriptions. Invoices brings line items and payments. You don't need to do anything — it just makes sure nothing important is left behind.
If something looks wrong
- The Export Data button is greyed out and won't click → That means nothing is ticked. The button only works once you've selected at least one record type. Tick a box (or press Select All) and it'll come back to life.
Choose CSV or JSON
Usually: admin or practice manager
There are two formats. Pick the one that suits what you'll do next.
CSV (ZIP archive) — choose this for spreadsheets.
This is the one to pick if you want to open your data in Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets. One important thing to know: you'll receive a ZIP file, not a single spreadsheet. A ZIP is a "folder in a box" — inside it are several separate .csv files, one for each record type you exported (clients, patients, and so on). This is normal and means the export worked.
To open it:
- On a Mac: double-click the
.zipfile — it unpacks into a folder of.csvfiles automatically. - On Windows: right-click the
.zipfile and choose Extract All, then open the folder that appears.
Each .csv inside can then be opened in your spreadsheet program.
JSON — choose this for another computer system.
This makes a single .json file. It's not meant for reading by eye — it's the format another piece of software (or a developer helping you migrate) would use. If you're not sure, you probably want CSV.
A note for the technically minded (skip if this means nothing to you): in JSON, exporting Clients and Patients together nests each patient inside its owner. Exporting Patients on their own gives a flat list of patients. If a script depends on the exact shape of the file, export the same combination each time.
Export only a date range
Usually: admin or practice manager
Quick version — Fill in From and/or To under Export Options. Blank = everything.
By default an export includes all your records. If you only want a recent slice — say, this year's activity — you can narrow it with a date range.
Step by step
- Under Export Options, find the Date Range (optional) fields.
- Click the From field and pick a start date.
- Click the To field and pick an end date.
- You can fill in just one, both, or neither:
- Both — only records between those two dates.
- From only — everything from that date onwards.
- To only — everything up to that date.
- Neither (blank) — every record. This is the right choice for a full backup.
- Carry on and click Export Data as usual.
One exception — Catalogue Items ignore dates. Your catalogue (products and services) is always exported in full, no matter what dates you set. That's deliberate — a price list isn't tied to a date. So if you set a date range and leave Catalogue Items ticked, you'll still get your whole catalogue. If you only want the date-filtered records, simply untick Catalogue Items before exporting. There's a small grey reminder of this under the date fields, which is easy to miss — so it's worth remembering.
If something looks wrong
- I set a date range but got my whole catalogue anyway → That's expected, not a bug. Catalogue Items always export in full. Untick that box if you don't want it.
- I picked dates but got far fewer / more records than I expected → Date filtering uses each record's own date (for example, appointments use their start time, invoices use their created date). If a record's date falls outside your range, it's left out. Widen the range, or leave it blank for everything.
Where did my file go?
After the export finishes, your browser saves the file automatically — there's no "Save as" pop-up and no success message on screen, so it's easy to think nothing happened. It almost certainly did. The file goes to your computer's Downloads folder.
The file is named with today's date so you can tell exports apart:
- CSV:
wattle-export-2026-06-02.zip - JSON:
wattle-export-2026-06-02.json
Finding your Downloads folder:
- Chrome / Edge: Look at the top-right of the browser for a small download arrow, or press Ctrl+J (Windows) / Cmd+Shift+J (Mac) to see recent downloads. Click the file name to open it, or the folder icon next to it to reveal where it lives.
- Safari (Mac): Click the download icon near the top-right of the window, then the little magnifying glass beside the file to show it in Finder. Downloads also live in the Downloads folder in your Dock.
- Firefox: Click the download arrow at the top-right to see the list, then the folder icon to open its location.
Tip. Once you've found the file, move it somewhere safe — an external drive, or a cloud folder like Dropbox or Google Drive. A backup is only useful if you can find it later.
A sensible backup habit
There's no rule about how often to export, but a simple routine helps:
- Run a full backup (everything ticked, no date range, CSV) on a regular schedule — monthly is a fine starting point.
- Keep a few past exports rather than overwriting — the dated file names make this easy.
- Store at least one copy off your work computer.
For controlled-drug records specifically, see The Schedule 8 register, which has its own statutory reporting and retention rules.
Related pages
- The catalogue & prices — what's inside a Catalogue Items export.
- Invoices and Charges vs invoices (the money model) — what Invoices and Ledger Entries contain.
- Your team & permissions — who can reach the export tools and why.
- Printing & PDFs — for one-off documents rather than bulk data.
- Patients & Records — generating a single animal's history as a PDF.
- If something looks wrong — troubleshooting & FAQ
- Glossary — plain-English meanings of CSV, JSON, ZIP and more.