Exporting entries

The Day One team is passionate about keeping your journal data yours to use how and where you want. To this end, we’ve created several options for exporting your entries. The available formats and entry-selection options vary by platform – see the Export availability by platform section below for a quick summary. Here is a brief overview of each export file format:

Want to turn your journal into a printed book? Day One has a built-in Book Printing feature that lets you order a professionally printed hardcover or paperback book directly from the app (currently available on iPhone and iPad only). See the Book Printing guide for details on page limits, pricing, customization options, and how to order.

• PDF: PDF exports include formatted text and photos inline in each entry. See here for a list of supported page sizes. This format is great for easy, human-readable access to your entries. It’s also good for printing your entries or easily searching them.
• JSON (Day One 2.x and later): This format is best for re-importing archived data to Day One. JSON exports can only be imported, read, and searched in Day One and other apps that support Day One JSON files. The exported zip file includes a .json file with all your selected entries and you can optionally include media, which will be organized into photos, videos, audios, and pdfs folders. Learn more about JSON.
• Plain Text / Markdown: This exports a zip file that contains a single text file with all your selected entries. On iOS and macOS the text preserves markdown syntax (so bold, italics, headings, and quotes survive as **bold**, *italic*, # heading, and > quote). On Android, the same option is labelled Plain Text and produces a formatting-stripped text file. Photos are not included, nor are references to photos at this time.
• CSV: Available on iOS and Android. The CSV export currently contains entry text and the date.

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Export availability by platform

This table summarises which export formats are currently available on each version of Day One. If you don’t see a format listed for your platform, it isn’t supported today.

Format	iOS / iPadOS	macOS	Android	Web App	Windows App
PDF (bulk)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
JSON (bulk)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (whole journal + single entry)	Yes (whole journal + single entry)
Plain Text / Markdown (bulk)	Yes	Yes	Yes (plain text only)	No	No
CSV (bulk)	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Single-entry share (Mail, Markdown, Plain Text, Share Card, etc.)	Yes	Yes	Text only	JSON only	JSON only

Date-range export is supported on iOS (via the export dialog) and Android (when choosing format). On macOS, use multi-select or filters to pick entries before exporting. The Web App and Windows App currently export the whole journal only.

Single-entry export is supported on iOS (PDF plus share options), macOS (PDF, JSON, or Plain Text / Markdown via right-click), Android (text-only via Share), and the Web App and Windows App (JSON, via the entry’s three-dots menu > Export).

Known export limitations

• Tables do not currently render in PDF exports on iOS. Entries that contain a table block will export to PDF with a blank space where the table should appear. Our iOS team is tracking this. As a workaround, open the entry in the web app at dayone.me, where tables render correctly, and use your browser’s Print > Save as PDF option.
• PDF export is not available on the Web App or the Windows App. To get a PDF from those platforms, open the entry in the Web App and use your browser’s Print > Save as PDF option.
• JSON export from the Web App or Windows App may produce a 0-byte (empty) zip file. If your downloaded export is 0 bytes, this is a known issue currently being investigated. Workarounds: try a different browser when using the Web App (Firefox instead of Chrome has worked for some users), or export from the Day One app on iOS or macOS instead.
• “Save to Files” (iOS) and “Export Plain Text” strip all formatting. If you need to preserve formatting for a single entry, use Export Markdown or bulk PDF / JSON export instead. See the iOS section below for the full list of single-entry share options.

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Day One

iOS

1. Go to Day One > Settings > Import/Export.
2. Select the journal you wish to export.
3. Set your desired date range.
4. If you want to export only entries with a specific tag, toggle on Only Tagged Entries, then select the tags you want.
5. There are additional PDF settings that can be selected.
6. Choose the export format you want. (See above for an explanation of each file format.)

When the Export file is ready, the share extension window will appear to provide options to save the file.

Here are details about exporting to PDF with the additional formatting settings.

To export or share a single entry, open the entry and tap the three-dot menu (···) in the top-right corner, then tap Export. This opens the share sheet with the options listed below. For example, to email an entry, tap the three-dot menu (···), tap Export, and choose Mail from the share sheet. You can also swipe on entries in the List view and tap the More button to see the option to share. Or use the multi-select tool to export several selected entries.

Share options for a single entry

When you share a single entry from the iPhone or iPad app (tap the three-dot menu on the entry, then Export, to see them), Day One offers several options. Each one retains formatting differently:

• Mail: Opens Apple Mail with the entry inserted as formatted text. Basic formatting such as bold and italic is preserved, but Day One-specific styles (like the Heading 6 gray background or block quote styling) may not render in Apple Mail. Photos embedded in the entry are included.
• Save to Files: Saves the entry to the iOS Files app as a plain text file. All formatting is stripped — bold, italic, headings, quotes, and checklists are not preserved. Media is not included.
• Copy Markdown Link: Copies a Markdown-formatted deep link back to the entry (for example, [Entry title](dayone://...)) to your clipboard. Pasting it into another app creates a clickable link that opens the entry directly in Day One.
• View Share Card: Opens a visually styled Share Card preview of the entry, designed for sharing to social media. The card includes the entry text, date, and any photos. This option works for entries with or without a photo.
• Export Plain Text: Exports the entry as a .txt file. All formatting is removed — only the raw text is retained.
• Export Markdown: Exports the entry as a .md file. Formatting is preserved as Markdown syntax (for example, **bold**, *italic*, > quote, # heading).
• View Plain Text: Displays the entry as plain text inside Day One, with no formatting. Useful for copying the text quickly without any styling.
• View Markdown: Displays the entry as Markdown inside Day One, with formatting preserved as Markdown syntax. Useful for copying the entry with formatting intact.
• New Quick Note

Which option preserves my formatting?

• Best for full formatting with photos and media: Use the bulk PDF or JSON export from Settings > Import/Export (see above).
• Best for a single entry with formatting: Export Markdown or View Markdown.
• Strips all formatting: Save to Files, Export Plain Text, and View Plain Text.
• Partial formatting (depends on recipient app): Mail.

macOS

If you want to export all journals and entries:

1. Go to File > Export.
2. Choose the file format you want to export (PDF, JSON, or Plain Text / Markdown) and follow any additional on-screen prompts and dialogs for completing your export. (See above for an explanation of each file format.). PDF exports have the following options:

If you want to export a single journal:

1. Right-click (control+click) on a journal in the journal pane.
2. Choose Export > and the format you want to use.

If you want to export specific entries:

1. Switch to List view using the list icon in the toolbar. Multi-select and right-click export only work in List view — they will not work in Timeline, Calendar, or other views.
2. Select entries using Command+click (individual entries) or Shift+click (a range of entries).
3. Right-click on one of the selected entries.
4. Choose Export > and the format you want to use.

You can also filter entries before exporting, to export only those entries included in the filter.

Entries can be filtered by the following values:

• Photo
• Audio
• Video
• PDF
• Place
• Favorite
• Tags
• Untagged
• Date (specific years only)
• Checklist
• Published
• Activity
• Music
• On This Day

Note: macOS does not have a built-in date range picker for exports (unlike iOS). To export entries from a specific date range, switch to List view first, then use Shift+click to select a range of entries, and right-click to choose your export format. Multi-select and right-click export only work in List view. You can also filter by year or use other filters to narrow down entries before selecting and exporting. See Multi-select and more for details.

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Android

Before starting any exports, we recommend going to Day One > Settings > Sync > Verify that “Optimize Local Media Storage” is turned off, then wait for sync to finish downloading your media. This will be to ensure that all your full-resolution images are included in the export.

If you want to export all journals and entries:

1. Go to Settings > Export
2. Choose your export format: JSON, PDF, Plain Text, or CSV.
3. The export will run in the background. When complete, a notification will appear with two actions: Save to device (to choose a local folder) or Share (to send the file to Google Drive, Dropbox, or another app). Tap your preferred option — if you dismiss the notification without acting, you will need to run the export again.

If you want to export a single journal:

1. Go to Settings > Journals.
2. Long-press the journal you want to export. This selects it and reveals the action buttons. You can tap additional journals to include them in the same export.
3. Tap Export.
4. Select the format you want to use.
5. The export will run in the background. When complete, a notification will appear with two actions: Save to device (to choose a local folder) or Share (to send the file to Google Drive, Dropbox, or another app). Tap your preferred option — if you dismiss the notification without acting, you will need to run the export again.

What the export completion notification tells you

The notification is titled Export Complete and summarises what was included, for example: “Exported 412 entries. Included 1,203 media files.”

Before building the export, Day One downloads any media that isn’t already stored on your device. If some of those downloads fail, the notification adds a warning such as “7 media files couldn’t be downloaded.” Those files are missing from the export file only. They are still in your journal. Check your connection, confirm Optimize Local Media Storage is off and sync has finished, then run the export again.

Tapping the body of the notification, rather than either action button, opens the share sheet directly.

If you want to export a single entry:

Currently, Android app doesn’t support exporting a single entry in JSON or PDF format. Howevever, you may use the option to share the entry as a text file by selecting a destination app.

To do so from List View:

1. Long-press on an entry in the List view
2. Select Export and choose where to send the entry

Or when viewing a single entry:

1. Tap the ‘three dots’ menu at the top right of the entry
2. Select Export and choose where to send the entry

Web App

With the latest release for Day One on the web, we’re introducing new export tools. The web app currently only supports the JSON format (PDF, Plain Text, and CSV exports are not available on the web). Both whole-journal and single-entry JSON exports are supported.

To export an entire journal: select the journal, then select Edit Journal > Journal Settings, and scroll down to find the Export Journal button. This creates a Day One JSON export of your complete journal. If your journal contains media that hasn’t been downloaded locally, you’ll be prompted to download it first. As with importing, you can monitor progress and pause the export process at any time.

To export a single entry: open the entry, click the three-dots menu on the entry, and choose Export. This produces a ZIP file containing a JSON export of that one entry plus any attached media.

Windows App

The Windows app is built on the same foundation as the Web App and offers the same export options. It currently only supports the JSON format (PDF, Plain Text, and CSV exports are not available on Windows). Both whole-journal and single-entry JSON exports are supported.

To export an entire journal:

1. Select the journal you wish to export.
2. Select Edit Journal > Journal Settings.
3. Select Export Journal.
4. Select Export Journal JSON File.
5. Select “Include media”, then choose Download now OR Continue Export. If your journal contains media that hasn’t been downloaded locally, you’ll be prompted to download it first. Or select “Export without media”.

To export a single entry: open the entry, click the three-dots menu on the entry, and choose Export. This produces a ZIP file containing a JSON export of that one entry plus any attached media.

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PDF export appearance

The colors used in a PDF export are fixed and cannot be changed. That includes the bright blue full-page dividers that appear between months — sometimes called divider pages, separator pages, or monthly summary pages. There is no color (or colour) setting for PDF export anywhere in Day One, and the same blue is used on iOS, macOS, and Android.

Your journal color and Journal Theme do not change PDF exports. Those settings restyle a journal inside the app only. PDF exports intentionally keep the classic look so they stay crisp and readable in print.

Removing or replacing the blue divider pages

You can’t recolor these pages, but you can control whether they appear at all:

• iOS — go to Settings > Import/Export and turn off both Monthly Stats Page and Maps to remove the divider pages entirely. Leaving Maps on replaces the solid blue with a map of that month’s entry locations; the blue is used as a fallback when no map can be generated, for example when those entries have no location data.
• macOS — go to File > Export, where the same two options are named Month Summary Stats and Maps.
• Android — in the PDF settings, turn off Monthly Summary under Other. Android does not have a Maps option, so these pages are always solid blue while Monthly Summary is on.

What you can adjust in a PDF export

The available PDF settings vary by platform, with iOS and macOS offering the fullest set:

• Page size — see PDF Export Page Sizes below.
• Font and font size (iOS and macOS).
• Which content is included: entry text, photos, videos, audio, and PDF attachments.
• Which details are shown: date, time, location, tags, weather, and journal name.
• Cover page and page numbers, plus Inner Margins on iOS and macOS, which adds extra margin for binding.
• Monthly summary pages and maps, as described above.

Want to choose the color? Book Printing, available on iPhone and iPad, is the one place where this color is customizable — the color you pick for your book is also used on its summary pages. A PDF export does not offer this.

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PDF Export Page Sizes

iOS and Mac

The following page sizes are available for the iOS and Mac apps when exporting entries in PDF format:

• 8.5 X 11 inches (Letter)
• 5.5 X 8.5 inches (A3)
• 8.3 X 11.7 inches (A4)

Android

The available page sizes for the Android app vary depending on the export method you choose. If you choose the Save as PDF option, you will be able to choose the following file sizes:

• Letter
• A3
• A4
• And more.

If you choose to print the PDF export file from the app, the available page sizes depend on the printer you choose. Please check with your printer manufacturer for the list of paper sizes supported.