# Export your requests

This article explains how to export to a CSV file all the submissions of a form or those of a period. You will know how to confirm the export, read the file and keep your requests beyond their retention period.

## Before you start

- The export is done from the **Forms** menu, reserved for the site’s administrators.
- Each export asks for a confirmation code. The site’s owners receive an email for every export.
- The export covers the environment displayed. From **Production**, you export your visitors’ requests. From **Staging**, your test submissions.

## Export all the submissions of a form

1. In the admin menu, open **Forms**, then **Production**.
2. Hover over the form’s row and click **Export CSV**. The **Confirm your export** window opens.
3. Enter the code requested.
4. Click **Confirm and download**. The message **Code accepted. Your file is on its way.** appears and the file downloads.

## Export a period

1. In **Forms**, click the name of the form.
2. In the bar, choose the period, for example **Last 30 days**. For another period, enter two dates and click **Apply**.
3. Above the list of submissions, click **Export CSV (current period)**.
4. Enter the code requested.
5. Click **Confirm and download**.

![The Confirm your export window for the Book a demo form over a period: the sentence announcing the code sent by email, the code field and the Confirm and download button.](https://static.lovelyrender.com/uploads/2026/10/967-doc-demandes-export.png)

## Confirm the export with a code

The code depends on how you protect your account.

| Your account | Code to enter |
| --- | --- |
| Two-factor authentication on | The code from your authenticator app or one of your backup codes. |
| Two-factor authentication off | The code received by email when the window opens. |

| Message | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| **Wrong code. Try again.** | Check the code and enter it again. |
| **This code has expired. Close this window and click Export again.** | Close the window and start the export again. A new code is requested. |
| **Too many wrong codes. Your account is locked for a while; try again later.** | Wait before trying again. |

The code is requested at every export, without exception. A person who has taken over your session can read the screen but does not leave with the file.

## Know who is notified

Each site owner receives the **Exported submissions** email. The email names the person who exported, the form, the number of submissions, the environment and the period. The owner is notified even when they did the export themselves.

The export appears in the site’s history. [Read your site’s history](https://lovelyrender.com/documentation/site-history/) explains where to read it.

**Warning:** If you receive this email for an export you did not expect, change your password and review the site’s members.

## Read the file

The file is a UTF-8 encoded CSV whose values are separated by commas. A spreadsheet opens it with its accents. Its name repeats the name of the form, the period and the date of the day.

| Column | Content |
| --- | --- |
| **Date** | The date and time of the submission. |
| **Channel** | The channel of the arrival kept, or **Direct**. |
| **Referral** | The site the visitor came from. |
| **Source**, **Medium**, **Campaign** | The parameters of the campaign link the visitor followed. |
| **Page** | The address of the page the submission was sent from, from the root of the site, for example `/biens-a-vendre/maison-sur-la-plage/`. |
| **Consents** | The accepted uses. Only on a form that has a **Consent** field. |
| **Legal documents** | The accepted or cited document and its edition. Only on a form that links a legal document. |
| One column per field | The answer, under the label of the field. A choice is written with the text of its option. |
| **User** | The account of the logged-in visitor, or **Not logged in**. |

The origin columns follow the attribution model chosen in the bar at the time of the export. With **Linear (split equally)**, each column lists the arrivals of a submission in the same order. A “|” separates them.

An empty channel marks a submission whose origin is unknown. A direct visit is written **Direct**. Filtering on an empty channel isolates only the requests with no known origin.

**Note:** A cell that starts with `=`, `+`, `-` or `@` is preceded by an apostrophe, so that the spreadsheet does not run it as a formula. The apostrophe is not visible in the cell. Numbers do not get one.

**Warning:** This protection applies when the file is opened. A CSV saved and reopened in Excel can lose it. Work on a copy or import the file into your tool without saving it again.

## Keep your requests beyond their retention

Each submission is kept for 13 months by default, then erased with its answers. The banner at the top of the **Forms** menu shows the period applied to your site. For example, it shows **Each submission is kept for 13 months to comply with data regulations.** An erased submission cannot be recovered.

- To keep a record beyond that, export your submissions before they are erased.
- To keep your submissions on the site for longer, ask us to extend their retention. It can go as far as unlimited retention. The banner then shows the new period or disappears.

Proof of consent is kept for 36 months and proof of acceptance of a legal document for 10 years. These periods never fall below that of the submissions.

The [Take your site with you](https://lovelyrender.com/documentation/export-your-site/) archive contains one CSV file per form with all the submissions of Production.

## See also

- [Read requests and where they come from](https://lovelyrender.com/documentation/read-requests/)
- [Send your requests to your tool](https://lovelyrender.com/documentation/send-requests-to-tool/)
- [Log in and protect your account](https://lovelyrender.com/documentation/log-in-protect-account/)
- [Read your site’s history](https://lovelyrender.com/documentation/site-history/)