What the GoHighLevel CSV Export Leaves Out

The GoHighLevel CSV export is the tool most agencies reach for when a client asks for their data. It covers contact fields well. But it leaves out several things clients assume are included, and you usually find out when they ask where their documents went. This guide lists what the CSV contains, what it skips, and how to get each missing piece out.

How the GoHighLevel CSV export works

As a quick refresher, as of October 2026:

1. Go to Contacts > Smart Lists and filter or select the contacts you want.
2. Use Manage Fields to choose visible columns.
3. Choose Export from the More or three-dot menu.
4. Download the file from Contacts > Bulk Actions once it shows Complete.

Only admins can export, the finished file stays available for 30 days, exports run per sub-account, and there's no scheduled export.

What's in the CSV

• Standard contact fields: name, email, phone, address and similar
• Tags
• Custom fields, if their columns are visible
• The latest note, up to 255 characters

That's a solid contact list. It isn't the full record.

What the CSV leaves out

Let's take the ones that cause the most trouble.

Hidden columns

The export follows the table, not the database. If a custom field isn't shown in your Contacts view, it won't be in the file. Before every full export, open Manage Fields and turn on everything. If a sub-account has hundreds of fields, this is tedious but necessary.

Notes

HighLevel's docs are explicit that only the latest note is included, up to 255 characters. A request to export all notes has been "under review" on HighLevel's ideas board since 2020 with hundreds of votes. If notes matter, for example a rep's call notes on a lending file, you need the API, which has per-contact notes endpoints, or a third-party tool.

Message history

HighLevel's export docs say automation history such as past emails and SMS logs isn't included. Conversations live in their own system. To get them out, use the Conversations API's "export messages by location" endpoint, or see how to export SMS conversations from GoHighLevel.

Calls and recordings

The contact CSV has nothing about calls. Call Reporting under Reporting has its own CSV of call data. The audio itself comes out one call at a time or through the API. See how to export call recordings.

Files

This is the big one. Files in a sub-account sit in several places:

• File upload fields on contacts and opportunities
• Conversation attachments
• Call recordings
• Form and survey uploads
• The media library
• Signed documents and contracts

The CSV contains none of the files themselves. For a mortgage, lending, insurance or legal client, those files are often the most important data in the account. A client who leaves with a contact CSV but no documents has lost most of what they paid you to collect.

Tasks and appointments

Tasks have their own list, and a native CSV export of tasks is an open request on HighLevel's ideas board as of October 2026. Calendar appointments are visible in the calendar views and via the API but aren't part of the contact file.

How to get each piece out natively

1. Contacts: CSV, after turning on every column.
2. Opportunities: export from the Opportunities area, one pipeline at a time, and keep the contact ID column so it joins back.
3. Configuration: a snapshot. It copies setup, not records.
4. Messages and calls: the Conversations API.
5. Notes and tasks: per-contact API endpoints.
6. Media library: download folders as a ZIP from Media Storage.
7. Contact files, attachments and signed documents: no native bulk download. Open contacts one by one, or script it with the API.

How to back up a GoHighLevel sub-account turns this into a monthly routine.

Why this matters for offboarding

When a client leaves, check what you promised in your agreement. "We'll export your data" usually means more to the client than a contact list. Before the handoff:

• Confirm which layers they expect: contacts, conversations, recordings, files.
• Export each layer and spot-check it against the live account.
• Count files per contact in a few records and compare.
• Hand it over in a structure they can use, with contact IDs linking everything.

Where the native way gets slow

The CSV takes minutes. Everything else takes custom scripts or hours of clicking. The hardest piece is files, because they're scattered across six sources, and each file has to stay tied to the contact it belongs to or the backup is just a folder of document.pdf copies.

How RGS Tools fills the gaps

Backup & Insights handles the files.

• File backup copies file fields, conversation attachments, call recordings, form and survey uploads, media and signed documents, and writes a manifest tying each file to its contact, opportunity, conversation or submission so it lines up with your CSVs. Backups run monthly and incrementally across the agency.
• Master search finds a contact or file across every backed-up sub-account by name, email, phone, filename or field value.
• Document analytics shows documents per contact, contacts by document field, tag and state, and uploads per month, which helps you check completeness before a handoff.

For message history, Conversation Exporter exports calls, SMS and email to CSV with playable recording links. Backup & Insights is $99/mo per agency, Conversation Exporter is $67/mo, and both are in the $149/mo All Tools Bundle with a 7-day free trial.