How to export your data from Freshdesk
Freshdesk lets Account Administrators export the entire helpdesk (tickets, solutions/knowledge base articles, forums, and customer list) as an XML file from Admin > Account > Account Details > Export data, and lets any agent export just the Contacts/Companies list as a CSV from the Contacts tab.
✓ Verified against Freshdesk's official documentation, September 2026
Step by step
- 1Log in to your Freshdesk support portal as an Account Administrator.
- 2For the full account export, go to Admin -> Account -> Account Details -> Export data, then click the Export button on that page.
- 3Wait for Freshdesk to process the export - the finished file is delivered as XML and covers tickets, solutions, forums, and your customer list.
- 4Retrieve the completed export from Admin > Accounts exports, where you can also check progress and download history of prior exports.
- 5For a CSV of just customers, go to the Contacts tab, click Export, select the fields (including any custom fields) you want, then click Export.
- 6Select Companies from the hamburger menu on the Contacts page and repeat the same Export steps to get a separate Companies CSV.
- 7Download the CSV export from Admin > Accounts exports as well, using the Details button on any row to see what time period, ticket fields, contact fields, and company fields were included.
- 8Have a developer convert the XML account export into a readable/importable format for your target tool, since Freshdesk does not provide the full export as CSV.
What the export includes
- ✓Tickets (full account XML export)
- ✓Solutions / knowledge base articles (full account XML export)
- ✓Forums (full account XML export)
- ✓List of customers (full account XML export)
- ✓Contact records including custom fields (CSV export)
- ✓Company records including custom fields (CSV export)
What it doesn't include
- ✗The full account export is XML only - Freshdesk does not offer a native CSV or JSON export of the entire helpdesk
- ✗Exporting contacts/companies by tag is not supported - the CSV export always includes the entire contact or company list even if you filtered the UI by tag
- ✗Analytics/report data is a separate export path (via Analytics > report > Export) and is not part of the account-wide Export data feature
Before you start
- ⚠The account-wide export is delivered as raw XML, so you'll need a developer to script a conversion before importing it elsewhere
- ⚠Only an Account Administrator (someone with access to the Accounts tab) can trigger the full account export or access billing
- ⚠All completed exports, both the full account XML and the Contacts/Companies CSV, are retrieved from the same place: Admin > Accounts exports, which also shows export history and in-progress downloads
- ⚠You can generate a blank sample Contacts/Companies export first to see all available default and custom field columns before building an import file
Where to take your data
Free and cheaper tools that can take a Freshdesk export. See all Freshdesk alternatives →
Freshdesk Free
If you're just downsizing plans rather than leaving Freshdesk, re-import the Contacts/Companies CSV via Contacts > Import into a Free-plan Freshdesk account; tickets and knowledge base content from the XML export need custom scripting since Freshdesk has no native ticket-import tool.
Convert your customer CSV export (name, email, custom fields) to Crisp's expected people/contacts import format and upload it through Crisp's contacts import; historical ticket conversations from the XML export are not directly importable and would need custom mapping.
Tawk.to
Use the Contacts/Companies CSV export to bulk-add customer records into Tawk.to's contact list; past Freshdesk tickets in the XML export aren't natively importable into Tawk.to's ticketing system.
Exporting from Freshdesk: common questions
Can I export all my Freshdesk tickets in one click?+
Yes - an Account Administrator can go to Admin > Account > Account Details > Export data and click Export to get an XML file containing all tickets, solutions, forums, and customers.
What format does Freshdesk export data in?+
The full account export is XML. Contact and company data can be exported separately as CSV from the Contacts tab.
Who can export data from Freshdesk?+
Only an Account Administrator - someone with access to the Accounts tab - can trigger and access the full account export or billing information.
Can I export only contacts with a certain tag?+
No. Freshdesk's documentation notes that exporting based on tags is not supported; even if you filter contacts by tag in the UI, the export includes the entire contact list.
Where do I download my export once it's ready?+
Both the full account export and the Contacts/Companies CSV are downloaded from Admin > Accounts exports, which also shows export history and progress.
Does the export include ticket attachments?+
Freshdesk's official articles describe the full export as covering tickets, solutions, forums, and customers in XML form; they do not document attachment files being bundled into this export, so plan to verify attachment handling separately before migrating.
Sources
This guide was written from Freshdesk's own documentation and checked against it in September 2026. If a step has changed, the official page wins.
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