Export your organization

If you’re self-hosting Zulip, you may want to check out the documentation on server export and import or server backups.

Zulip has high quality export tools that can be used to migrate between the hosted Zulip Cloud service and your own servers. Two types of data exports are available for all Zulip organizations:

• Export of public data: Complete data for your organization other than private channel messages and direct messages. This export includes user settings and channel subscriptions.
• Standard export: Everything in the export of public data, plus all the private channel messages and direct messages that members who have allowed administrators to export their private data can access.

Two additional types of data exports are available to corporate Zulip Cloud Standard and Zulip Cloud Plus customers:

• Full export without member consent: All the data in the organization.
• Compliance export: A targeted, human-readable export of messages matching some combination of criteria (e.g., sender, recipient, message keyword, or timestamp).

Export for migrating to Zulip Cloud or a self-hosted server

This feature is only available to organization owners and administrators.

This export is formatted for importing into Zulip Cloud or a self-hosted installation of Zulip. It is not designed to be human-readable.

1. Go to Data exports.
2. Click Start export.
3. Select the desired Export type.
4. Click Start export to begin the export process. After a few minutes, you’ll be able to download the exported data from the list of data exports.
5. Use Zulip’s logical data import tool to import your data into a self-hosted server. For Zulip Cloud imports, contact support@zulip.com.

Generating the export can take up to an hour for organizations with a large number of messages or uploaded files.

Full export without member consent

This feature is only available to organization owners.

This export is formatted for importing into Zulip Cloud or a self-hosted installation of Zulip. It is not designed to be human-readable.

To perform this export, your organization must meet the following requirements:

• You are a paid Zulip Cloud Standard or Zulip Cloud Plus customer. In rare cases, exceptions may be made in case of due legal process.
• You have authority to read members’ direct messages. Typically, this will be because your Zulip organization is administered by a corporation, and you are an official representative of that corporation.

By requesting and approving this export, you will assume full legal responsibility that the appropriate employment agreements and corporate policy for this type of export are in place. Note that many countries have laws that require employers to notify employees of their use of such an export.

1. Email support@zulip.com with your organization’s zulipchat.com URL, asking for a full export without member consent. Please send the email from the same address that you use to sign in to Zulip, so that Zulip Support can verify that you are an owner of the organization.
2. Once your authority to request the export has been verified, you will receive an archive in the .tar.gz format containing all the information for your organization.
3. Import the tarball using Zulip’s logical data import tool.

If you self-host Zulip, a full export without member consent can be performed by your server’s administrator.

Compliance export

This feature is only available to organization owners.

This type of export is recommended if you plan to work with the exported data directly (e.g., reading messages or processing them with a script), rather than importing the export into a new Zulip organization.

To perform this export, your organization must meet the following requirements:

• You are a paid Zulip Cloud Standard or Zulip Cloud Plus customer. In rare cases, exceptions may be made in case of due legal process.
• You have authority to read members’ direct messages. Typically, this will be because your Zulip organization is administered by a corporation, and you are an official representative of that corporation.

By requesting and approving this export, you will assume full legal responsibility that the appropriate employment agreements and corporate policy for this type of export are in place. Note that many countries have laws that require employers to notify employees of their use of such an export.

1. Email support@zulip.com asking for a compliance export. Please send the email from the same address that you use to sign in to Zulip, so that Zulip Support can verify that you are an owner of the organization. You will need to specify:
   1. The zulipchat.com URL for your organization
   2. What limits you would like on the export. Currently, compliance exports can apply any combination of the following filters:
      • Message sender
      • Message recipient
      • Message contents, by specific keywords
      • Sent timestamp before, after, or between dates If you need other limits, please ask.
   3. Your preferred format for the export: CSV or JSON.
   4. Whether or not you want to receive copies of all attachments referenced in the exported messages.
2. You will receive the requested information once your authority to request the export has been verified.

If you self-host Zulip, a compliance export can be performed by your server’s administrator.

Configure whether administrators can export your private data

1. Go to Account & privacy.
2. Under Privacy, toggle Let administrators export my private data.

Related articles

• Change organization URL
• Deactivate your organization
• Import organization into a self-hosted Zulip server
• Data export for self-hosted organizations
• Compliance exports for self-hosted organizations