The video is in the works. Until then, the guide will get you there.
Step-by-step guide
Where to find Data export
In the top menu bar, click " (Settings)".
The Settings menu opens on the left. Choose "Data export".
The Data export page opens.
When an export makes sense
You will not need this page every week. But there are moments when it suddenly matters a lot:
- You are thinking about switching. A different tool, a different provider, a different approach. With the export, you take your entire history with you instead of starting from scratch.
- You need an analysis that does not exist. Management wants a specific table, a client wants a specific breakdown. From the CSV, you build exactly that, no detours.
- You are setting up your own backup. One archive on your own hard drive per quarter, and your numbers exist twice. Takes five minutes.
- Someone asks for your data. Your IT team, an auditor, or a data protection officer. Instead of explanations, you hand over the files.
Starting an export
You will see a small form with two date fields. That is all it takes:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| From | The first day of the time range you want to download. |
| To | The last day of the time range. |
A few limits are built in so nothing goes wrong:
- One year maximum per export. Need more? Just run a second export with a shifted time range.
- The start date only goes back as far as Trustlytics has data for your website. Before the first day of your tracking, there is nothing to fetch.
- The end date is capped at today. Nobody can measure into the future.
A click on Start export puts your job in the queue. You stay on the Data export page and see a success message.
What happens next
You do not have to sit and wait. Trustlytics works in the background, and the status display on the page keeps you posted:
- Right away: your job is in the queue. Status: Queued.
- Within five minutes: Trustlytics starts packing the archive. Status: In progress.
- After one to three minutes: the ZIP file is ready. You get an email with the download link. The page then says: Done.
Feel free to leave the page and come back later. The email reaches you as soon as everything is ready.
Download
The download runs exclusively through email. There is no button for it on the Data export page itself, even when it says "Done". So click the link in the email. It is valid for 24 hours from the moment the file is finished. Within those 24 hours, download the file as often as you like, on as many devices as you like.
What happens after 24 hours:
- The link stops working.
- The ZIP file is automatically deleted from our servers.
- Need it again after that? Just request a new export.
Why so tight? Because your data should not sit around on our servers any longer than necessary.
What is inside the ZIP archive?
When you unzip the archive, you will find a tidy folder structure. At the top sits a README.txt, a plain text file that explains every other file. So if you do not know what is in which table, read there first.
trustlytics-export--.zip
├── README.txt ← Explanation of all files + schema
├── account/
│ └── trustlytics-account.json ← Account + settings
└── analytics/
├── tracking_visits.csv ← All visits
├── tracking_actions.csv ← All actions (with URL path)
├── tracking_urls.csv ← URL list
├── tracking_content_blocks.csv ← Content block list
├── tracking_content_layouts.csv ← Layout snapshots
├── goal_conversions.csv ← Goal conversions
├── agg_daily_site.csv ← Site daily aggregate
├── agg_hourly_site.csv ← Site hourly aggregate
├── agg_daily_pages.csv ← Pages per day
├── agg_daily_entrypages.csv ← Entry pages
├── agg_daily_exitpages.csv ← Exit pages
├── agg_daily_outlinks.csv ← Outbound links
├── agg_daily_downloads.csv ← Downloads
├── agg_daily_geo.csv ← Geo data
├── agg_daily_device.csv ← Devices
├── agg_daily_software.csv ← Browsers / OS
├── agg_daily_referrer.csv ← Referral sources
├── agg_daily_search_keywords.csv ← Search terms
├── agg_daily_websites_ref.csv ← Referring websites
├── agg_daily_social.csv ← Social networks
├── agg_daily_campaigns.csv ← Campaigns
├── agg_daily_channels.csv ← Acquisition channels
├── agg_daily_contents.csv ← Content block metrics
├── agg_daily_content_pageviews.csv ← Content block reach
├── agg_daily_goals.csv ← Goal statistics
├── agg_daily_events.csv ← Events
├── agg_daily_searches.csv ← Site search
└── agg_daily_gsc_*.csv ← Google Search Console (if connected) In short: your master data and settings as JSON, your analytics numbers as CSV. The files starting with agg_daily_, contain pre-calculated daily figures, sorted by topic. Those are what you need in most cases. The files with tracking_ contain the raw data, meaning every single visit and every single action. They are considerably larger and only interesting if you really want to dig deep. The Google Search Console files are only in the archive if you have set up the connection.
Thirty files is a lot. This lookup gets you to the right one faster:
| You want to know | File |
|---|---|
| How many visits and visitors per day | agg_daily_site.csv |
| What times of day are busiest | agg_hourly_site.csv |
| Which pages perform best | agg_daily_pages.csv |
| Which channels your visitors came through | agg_daily_channels.csv |
| Which countries and cities they come from | agg_daily_geo.csv |
| Phone or computer | agg_daily_device.csv |
| Whether your goals were met | agg_daily_goals.csv |
| Every single visit in detail | tracking_visits.csv |
agg_daily_site.csv. an. That file is small, easy to read, and shows you right away whether the export contains what you expected. Only then is it worth looking into the bigger tables.Format
So you can open the files anywhere without trouble:
- JSON: UTF-8, indented, with readable special characters. Opens cleanly in any text editor.
- CSV: UTF-8 with BOM, so Excel displays special characters correctly. The separator is a comma, and quotation marks follow the RFC 4180 standard.
- Date and time: consistently in ISO 8601 format (
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS).
And one more warning that has cost people entire evenings: Excel likes to turn columns of numbers into dates all on its own. So after importing, take a quick look at a column of numbers. If something there looks like a date that should not be one, set the column format to "Text" right at import.
Limits at a glance
A few limits, so everything stays calm and safe:
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Time range per export | max. 1 year |
| Open exports at once | max. 1 per user |
| Exports per day | max. 5 |
| Download link valid | 24 hours from completion |
| Repeat downloads within 24 h | unlimited |
To put that in perspective: five exports a day gets you five years of history in one afternoon. And since only one job runs at a time, wait until the first one finishes before starting the next.
Privacy
We stay strict on exports too. The analytics data is already anonymized before it lands in your archive:
- Anonymized IP addresses. The last part of the address (the suffix in IPv6) is removed. So nothing can be traced back to an individual person.
- A visitor hash that changes daily. A visitor gets an anonymous identifier (SHA256) per day, which is reassigned the next day. So nobody can be recognized across multiple days.
And passwords or credentials for connected services? None of them come along. Those stay where they belong.
What that means for you in practice: you can pass this archive on without violating your visitors' privacy. To your agency, to a consultant, to a new provider. Your visitors' personal data is not in there, because Trustlytics never collects it in the first place. One detail remains, though: the account JSON contains your own information, meaning profile, invoices, and your activity log. I would not hand that part over unchecked.
What is in it for me?
Plenty of analytics tools hold your data hostage. You are allowed to filter, sort, and look at pretty charts, but actually getting your hands on the numbers themselves? Not part of the plan. And anyone who wants to switch leaves their history behind. Not with Trustlytics. That is exactly why this page exists.
- Your data is genuinely yours. Not as a promise on a marketing page, but as a file on your hard drive. You feel the difference on the day you need it.
- You stay independent. No provider can put pressure on you using your own numbers. Not even us.
- You are not limited to our reports. Whatever does not exist as a view in Trustlytics, you build yourself in Excel, Power BI, or another tool.
- You do not need anyone for it. No ticket, no approval, no waiting. You click, Trustlytics packs and delivers.
And on top of that, an export like this is the most honest promise a provider can make. Anyone who leaves the exit open has to count on you staying by choice.
Common questions
Can I get several years of data in one export?
No, one year per export at most. For two years, just run two exports with shifted time ranges and merge the files afterward.
Can I export only one specific report?
No. The archive always contains the complete package. You pick the time range, not the contents. That sounds like a lot, but it is more practical: you do not have to know in advance which number you will need later. Just take the file in the archive that fits your question. The lookup for that is further up.
Why is the link only valid for 24 hours?
For privacy reasons. Your finished ZIP file should not sit on our servers any longer than necessary. Within those 24 hours, download it as often as you like. After that it is deleted automatically, and you request a new export if you need one.
I did not get an email. Now what?
Check your spam folder first, that is where these messages end up most often. Then check the status display on the Data export page. If it says "Done", your archive is ready and only the email got lost. If it says "Queued" or "In progress", the job is still running. In that case, just wait a few minutes.
My export failed. Now what?
Check the status display on the Data export page first. If it says Error, hover over the info icon to see the reason. Then try again, it was often just a hiccup. If the error persists, contact support and tell us the time range you chose and the message you saw. That helps us find the cause faster.
What is in the account JSON?
Your profile, your registered website, contracts, invoices, connected services (without passwords or keys), plus your dashboards, reports, campaigns, and goals. And an activity log of your own actions, including login attempts.
Are my passwords in the export?
No. Passwords are nowhere in the archive. Credentials for connected services (such as ASPSMS or Google Search Console) are left out too.
How big is a typical ZIP file?
For an active website with around 100,000 visits over 90 days, roughly 5 to 20 MB. With very heavy traffic, a one-year export can grow to close to 100 MB.
What do I open a CSV file with?
Any spreadsheet program: Excel, LibreOffice Calc, Numbers on a Mac, or Google Sheets. The only important thing is to go through the import rather than double-clicking, otherwise the columns may not line up. How that works is in the Format section above. You open the JSON file with any text editor, though it is more for technical purposes.
The page says "Done", but I cannot find a download button.
There is not one there. The link comes exclusively by email. If the message is missing, check your spam folder first. If it stays missing, start a new export, that is the fastest route.
Can I automate the export?
No. Data export is a manual function that you trigger yourself. When and how often is up to you.
Do the numbers in the export look exactly like the ones in my reports?
In most cases, yes. Small differences can occur because the agg_daily_* files are pre-calculated daily figures, while in a report you sometimes filter more finely. For comparison, use those files, they follow the same logic as your reports.
Do I have to export before canceling?
Yes, that is the safe route. Run the export while your access is still active. After that you cannot get to the data anymore, and nobody can bundle it up for you retroactively. Take the ten minutes, they are well spent.