Cliniko makes it easy to get your data out. Whether you’re analysing numbers or cancelling your subscription, exports are the quickest way to retrieve everything you need. Your data always belongs to you, and you can download any of it for your own record keeping.
Cliniko includes built-in tools that let you export your data with just a click.
Exporting patients is only available to administrators.
Export your data from Cliniko
Head to Settings, and then Data exports:
Select the type of data you'd like to export, as well as the date range:
If you need all of your data (not just items within a date range), set the date range to Any time → Any time. The date fields will appear blank, which is normal, as in the example below.
Click the Export data button, and your file will be generated.
Exports with a lot of data can take a few minutes to generate. You don’t need to stay on this page and you can navigate elsewhere while it processes. You can also tick "Send email when done" to be notified when your export is ready.
Once it's ready, click the file name to download it:
That's it! 🙌 Your export will download as a CSV file, which can be opened in Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets, and most other spreadsheet tools. The export is a snapshot of your data so any changes you make to a CSV file will not affect Cliniko.
🚨 IMPORTANT: If you plan to filter your results in a spreadsheet tool (such as Excel, Numbers, Google Sheets, etc.), make sure to delete the filtered rows if you're providing the file to someone else. Filtering by itself does not delete any information—it simply hides it from the current view.
Spreadsheet vs Data file formats
When exporting, you’ll notice two format options: Spreadsheet and Data file.
Both are CSV files, but they differ in how long numbers (such as patient IDs or invoice IDs) are displayed. Many spreadsheet programs automatically shorten very long numbers. For example, 1234567890123456 becomes 1.23457E+15. Excel is especially prone to this.
When you export in the Spreadsheet format, these long numbers are converted to "text" so that they will always appear as they should. This version is best if someone is viewing, filtering, or editing data manually.
In the Data file format, these long numbers are not converted and will appear in its raw numeric form. This version is useful if your spreadsheet is used by a script or external software that relies on numeric IDs.
For day-to-day use, checking trends, or reviewing data manually, we recommend sticking with the "Spreadsheet" format.
Exporting Patient Files from Cliniko
Exporting patient attachments is a little different. When you select "patient attachments" as the type of export, Cliniko will generate a ZIP file for you containing all the attachments uploaded in the date range you selected, sorted in folders for each patient. ZIP files are also very common, and most computers can open them.
If you have a lot of attachments in your account, and Cliniko sees that the resulting exported file would be too large, it will split your export into multiple ZIP files. Each file will become available for download as Cliniko finishes creating it. Here you can see a large export in progress:
One file is already done, but more are being prepared. You can begin downloading the completed files without waiting for all of them do be done! And here is the same export after it has been completed:
When you delete an export that has multiple files, all of the ZIP files are deleted at once. This does not delete the original patient attachments! It's completely safe to delete an attachment export.
Removing expired data exports from Cliniko
Data exports will expire after two weeks. This means that copies of the spreadsheets you generate on this page will only be downloadable for two weeks:
This does not mean any other data gets deleted. It simply means that if you need another copy of the data you'd downloaded (i.e. "Patients"), you have to generate it again.
On the flip side, if you want to bring data into Cliniko, you can definitely do that! Read about how to import data here. You can also use the data exports to view all of your archived records.