Export data from a list

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 1 minute to read

    • Export a list of records to a variety of file formats.

    Before you begin

    Role required: none. Exporting to XML requires the admin role.

    About this task

    The Export option is available in the column heading context menu in List v2. In List v3, it's available in the list title menu.

    Note the following important details:
    • Data exported from a list may be different from what a user sees in the list view. This generally happens when a table has ACLs that are dependent on the user's current session. To avoid blocking user activity on the browser, list export is executed from a background thread and doesn't have access to user session data.
    • To export records in an embedded list, export the record containing the list. See Export data from a record.
    • To control how line breaks appear in exported CSV data, use the glide.csv.export.line_break system property. See glide.csv.export.line_break.
    • To remove unwanted HTML tags from list data, see the blog Rendering HTML in Exported Lists by a ServiceNow employee in the ServiceNow Community.
    • The platform provides a default upper limit for data exports. See Export limits.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to the list of records that you want to export.
    2. Select and hold (or right-click) any column header in the list.
    3. Select an export option.
      Note:
      For export to PDF, when the accessibility property is enabled, users will get a pop up when they export to PDF where they can specify whether to create an accessible PDF or not. For more information, see PDF generation and accessibility.
      • To export the list to Excel, select Export > Excel (.xlsx).
      • To export the list to CSV, select Export > CSV.
      • To export the list to XML, select Export > XML
      • To export the list to JSON, select Export > JSON.
      • To export the list to PDF in portrait mode, select Export > PDF > Portrait > Export
      • To export the list to PDF in landscape mode, select Export > PDF > Landscape > Export
      • To export the list and the associated form for each record in portrait mode, select Export > PDF > Detailed PortraitExport.
      • To export the list and the associated form for each record in landscape mode, select Export > PDF > Details Landscape > Export.
      • To export the list to a file using an export set, select Export > Export Set.
      For details on using export sets, see Export sets.
    4. When the export completes, select Download.