How to export your data from DocuSign
DocuSign lets you download individual signed envelopes (PDF + certificate of completion) one at a time from any plan, or configure a bulk 'export' via DocuSign Retrieve that pulls copies of sent (and optionally inbox) envelopes to a local folder as PDFs plus an index.csv file, run immediately or on a schedule.
✓ Verified against DocuSign's official documentation, September 2026
Step by step
- 1For a single document: open the envelope in your DocuSign account and use the Download option to save the signed PDF and certificate of completion.
- 2For bulk exports: obtain and open DocuSign Retrieve, then sign in with your DocuSign account credentials.
- 3Create a new export and define which envelopes to include — for example all envelopes sent by a user, and optionally items still in that user's inbox — plus a date range filter.
- 4Choose whether to run the export immediately or schedule it to run automatically at specified times.
- 5Optionally save your configuration as a 'Saved Settings' entry so you can re-run the same export later without re-entering the filter criteria.
- 6Run the export. Retrieve logs every envelope it queries into a .downloaded folder, and writes the envelopes that actually matched your filter — along with their documents — into an index.csv file.
- 7For large accounts, split the job into multiple smaller exports rather than one huge export to stay under the account's API call limit.
What the export includes
- ✓Signed documents from completed envelopes (as PDFs)
- ✓Certificate of completion for each envelope
- ✓An index.csv log listing the envelopes that were exported
What it doesn't include
- ✗Account configuration such as users, permission profiles, and branding
- ✗Templates (must be recreated manually in the destination tool)
- ✗Connect/webhook and integration configuration
Before you start
- ⚠Retrieve's default account limit is 3,000 API calls per hour, resetting at the top of the hour, and each envelope it exports uses roughly two API calls — so break large exports into smaller batches.
- ⚠The number of envelopes logged in the .downloaded folder can differ from the number actually exported: only envelopes that match your query/date-range filter end up in index.csv.
- ⚠Bulk export depends on API access being enabled on the account, so a non-admin user on a lower-tier plan may not have this available and should ask an account admin.
- ⚠Single-envelope downloads only give you documents already completed/voided — they don't reconstruct in-progress workflow state.
Where to take your data
Free and cheaper tools that can take a DocuSign export. See all DocuSign alternatives →
PandaDoc Free
Upload the exported signed PDFs into PandaDoc as reference/archive documents. Templates and workflow logic aren't portable between platforms, so recreate any recurring templates manually in PandaDoc.
Dropbox Sign
Store the exported signed PDFs and certificates in Dropbox Sign's document library for reference, and rebuild any DocuSign templates from scratch since template structures don't transfer between e-signature providers.
Exporting from DocuSign: common questions
Can I export every envelope in my DocuSign account at once?+
Not in a single click from the base web app. DocuSign Retrieve lets you define a filtered export (by sender, date range, inbox status) and run or schedule it, but very large accounts should split exports into smaller batches to avoid hitting API rate limits.
Does the exported file still count as a legally valid signed document?+
Yes — the downloaded PDF includes the certificate of completion, which is the record DocuSign generates as evidence of the signing process.
What happens to my templates if I close my DocuSign account?+
Templates are account configuration, not envelope data, and aren't included in an envelope export. You need to manually rebuild any templates in whatever e-signature tool you move to.
Do I need a special app to bulk-download my documents?+
For anything beyond downloading envelopes one at a time, DocuSign's documented path is DocuSign Retrieve, which connects to your account via the API to pull down documents and log results to an index.csv file.
Is there a CSV of my envelope metadata (not just the documents)?+
DocuSign's export tooling produces an index.csv listing which envelopes were exported alongside the downloaded documents, separate from the signed PDFs themselves.
Sources
This guide was written from DocuSign's own documentation and checked against it in September 2026. If a step has changed, the official page wins.
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