Exporting: filters, columns and formats

An export has three questions: which data types, which records, and which columns. Answer them and the file is exactly as big as it needs to be.

Which data types

Tick as many as you like in one job. An Excel export puts each data type on its own sheet — Products, Customers, Orders and so on — so one file can carry a whole store.

Which records — filters

Filters run on Shopify's side, so a filtered export is genuinely smaller and faster, not just trimmed afterwards. Typical filters:

• Product status is Active, Draft or Archived
• Vendor is any of a list
• Tagged with a given tag
• Created or updated on or after a date
• Order status, financial status or fulfilment status

Which columns

Column control keeps a file readable. Exporting 60 product columns when you only need Handle, Title and Price makes for a file nobody wants to open. Pick the columns and the export carries just those.

Formats

• Excel (.xlsx) — one workbook, one sheet per data type. The default, and the easiest to edit.
• CSV — one file per data type, delivered as a ZIP when you pick more than one.
• XML and JSON — for feeding another system rather than editing by hand.
• PDF — a read-only snapshot, useful for sharing a report.
• Google Sheets — export straight into Drive and edit in the browser.

Every export is kept under your file-retention setting and can be deleted at any time from the job page.