How to export your data from Autopilot
Autopilot (now rebranded as part of Ortto's 'Autopilot Journeys') lets you export your contact database — either all contacts or just a specific list/smart segment — as a downloaded file from the Contacts app, and lets you export email performance metrics (Delivery and Performance reports) as a spreadsheet from the Reports section. There is no documented single 'export everything' bundle covering journeys, templates, or account settings.
✓ Verified against Autopilot's official documentation, October 2026
Step by step
- 1Log in to your Autopilot (Ortto) account and open the Contacts app.
- 2To export everything, use the Export option from the main contacts view; to export only part of your database, first open the specific list or smart segment you want, then export from there.
- 3Start the export. Autopilot uses a 'streaming' export, so the total file size is not known in advance and no percentage progress bar is shown while the file downloads.
- 4Wait for the download to finish — export time varies with database size; budget roughly one minute per 10,000 contacts.
- 5Open the downloaded file and note that any date fields are exported in UTC time, not your account's local timezone.
- 6Repeat the export per list/segment if you need separate files, since the documented flow exports one list/segment/full-database file at a time.
- 7For email performance data, go to the Journey's Email Reports (Delivery Report and Performance Report) and export those metrics as a spreadsheet, or add contacts matching a specific metric to a list before exporting.
- 8Spot-check row counts in the exported file against the contact counts shown in Autopilot before you cancel or downgrade your plan.
What the export includes
- ✓Full contact records with custom fields when exporting 'all contacts'
- ✓Contacts limited to a specific list or smart segment, if you export from that view instead
- ✓Email Delivery Report metrics (attempted, invalid, bounced, delivered) exportable as a spreadsheet
- ✓Email Performance Report metrics (opened, clicked, replied, unsubscribed, complained, open rate, click rate) exportable as a spreadsheet
What it doesn't include
- ✗Journey/automation workflow definitions and logic — not covered by the documented contact or report export flows
- ✗Email templates and campaign content
- ✗Account, billing, and team/user settings
- ✗Integration configurations (Salesforce, Segment, Zapier, API connections)
Before you start
- ⚠The export is a streaming download with no known file size and no progress percentage — it can look stalled on large lists even though it's running.
- ⚠Export time scales with list size: allow roughly one minute per 10,000 contacts.
- ⚠Date/time fields in the export are in UTC, so you'll need to convert them if your workspace uses a different timezone.
- ⚠Contact exports and report exports are two separate flows (Contacts app vs. Email Reports), not a single combined export.
- ⚠Autopilot's support docs are now hosted under the Ortto Knowledge Base, reflecting Autopilot's acquisition by Ortto — the product is marketed there as 'Autopilot Journeys.'
Where to take your data
Free and cheaper tools that can take a Autopilot export. See all Autopilot alternatives →
MailerLite
Upload the exported contacts CSV via MailerLite's subscriber import tool, map Autopilot's custom field columns to MailerLite fields, and re-create any lists/segments manually since segment membership doesn't carry over automatically.
Brevo (Sendinblue)
Use Brevo's Contacts > Import tool to upload the CSV, map columns to Brevo attributes, and assign the imported contacts to a new Brevo list; email engagement history (opens/clicks) from Autopilot's reports is not importable as subscriber activity.
Exporting from Autopilot: common questions
What file format does Autopilot export contacts in?+
Autopilot's docs don't name the exact file extension, but the export is a direct file download (a standard spreadsheet-style file, typically CSV) rather than an API payload or JSON bundle.
Why does my Autopilot export look stuck or show no progress?+
Autopilot uses a streaming export so the total file size isn't known ahead of time, which means no percentage progress bar is shown — this is expected behavior, not an error.
Can I export just one list or segment instead of my whole database?+
Yes — open the specific list or smart segment in the Contacts app and export from there instead of the main contacts view.
Are my Journeys (automation workflows) included in the export?+
No. The documented export covers contact records and email report metrics only; there's no documented way to export journey/automation logic itself.
What timezone are the dates in my exported file?+
All date fields are exported in UTC time, regardless of your account's configured timezone.
How long will a large contact export take?+
Budget roughly one minute per 10,000 contacts, though actual time can vary with database size and complexity.
Sources
This guide was written from Autopilot's own documentation and checked against it in October 2026. If a step has changed, the official page wins.