Exports: Getting Your Data Out

Everything you collect in Nocarta can leave Nocarta — as spreadsheet files, as a printable PDF, or as plain text. Exports live on the page of the thing you're exporting: there is no separate exports screen to visit.

Two kinds of export exist, and they behave differently:

Immediate downloads — the file downloads the moment you click
Queued exports — prepared in the background; a download link appears when ready, and stays valid for 7 days

Exporting Form Data as Spreadsheets

From the Records List (Immediate)

On your records list, click Select and tick the records you want
Click Export — the download starts right away

One simple record → a single .csv file; several records (or a record with tables) → a .zip of spreadsheet files
All selected records must belong to the same form template — otherwise the button shows: "Select instances from a single template to export them together"

From a Single Record (Immediate)

On a record's page, Export Data (CSV) downloads that record's values — a single spreadsheet when the form fits one sheet, otherwise a small archive with one spreadsheet per section.

From a Form Template (Queued)

On the form template's page, click Export Instances Data
Tick the records to include (or Select all), choose whether to Include metadata, then click Export selected or Export all
You'll see "Export queued. We'll notify you when it's ready." — keep the page open; the status updates every few seconds and a Download link appears when done

What's Inside the File

Each section of the form becomes its own spreadsheet file, named after the section — a table section keeps its columns (headers taken from the text printed on the document), other sections export as name/value pairs
Bulk exports contain one folder per record
With Include metadata on, a small extra file records when and by whom the export was made
Exports contain values only — document images are not included

Downloading a Record as PDF

On a record's page, Download PDF produces a PDF of the original document with your filled-in values printed at each field's exact position — one PDF page per document page.

If the PDF can't be produced, the message tells you why:

"This form has no filled values yet. Fill the form first, then download the PDF."
"This form has no document image, so there is nothing to print the values onto."
"This form has no positioned fields, so its values can't be placed on the page."

Other Ways Out

What	Where	You get
A notebook's extracted text	The notebook's text page → Export CSV	One spreadsheet: tables keep their rows and cells, other text becomes one row per block
A form template's extracted text	The template's Markdown page → Export	All pages' text as a single formatted-text file
Value set entries	The value set's page → Export CSV (or "Export N filtered entries" while searching)	A spreadsheet with the value set's own columns
Automation batch results	A batch's page → Export CSV / Export JSON	Per-record results of the batch
Region reading results	A reading result's page → Export JSON	The exact stored result
Your secrets vault	See the Secrets guide	CSV, JSON, or an archive including attached files — protected by your master password

Good to Know

Queued exports expire after 7 days — the expiry date is shown next to the download link. After that, run the export again.
On a form you received from someone else, the Queue CSV Export button keeps a small history of your last exports with their status and download links.
There is no email notification — the "ready" notice appears on the page itself, so return to the page you exported from.
Exports are available on every plan, and only you can download the exports you created.
Downloaded files can contain personal data — store them as carefully as you'd store the originals.

Troubleshooting

Export marked "failed" with nothing downloaded — usually the selection contained no data to export (an empty form, for example).
"Export failed. A service encountered an error. Our team has been notified." — something went wrong on our side; the team already has the details. Try again in a little while.
The status seems stuck — reload the page; the export keeps processing in the background.