With export templates you download article data as a CSV or Excel file (`.xlsx`). A template stores which columns the file contains, in which order and with which heading, the file format and which articles are exported – all articles of your warehouse, only those of one client, or only active ones.

The fields have the same names as in the [article import](/products/import-templates.md): a file you export can be read in again with an import template. Every row of the file is exactly one article.

![Screenshot: Overview "Export templates (CSV & Excel)" with name, format, client, number of columns, last modification, last export and the buttons to download, edit, duplicate and delete](/products/images/export-templates-overview.png)

## Before you start

- Your user needs the permissions for the import menu, the export menu and the export templates – the **Export** menu is shown inside the import block. Ask your administrator.
- The [attribute fields](/products/attribute-fields.md) you want to export exist. The template offers only fields your company really has.
- For stock columns: your warehouses exist. See [Stock overview](/stock/stock-overview.md).
- For texts and categories in several languages: the languages of your company (**Catalogue › Attributes › Languages**, *Katalog › Attribute › Sprachen*).

!!!
A **client** always exports only their own articles. Only the logistician can choose a client in the template.
!!!

## Step by step

### Create a template

1. Open **Catalogue › Export › Templates** (*Katalog › Export › Vorlagen*) and click **New template** (*Neue Vorlage*). A new template starts with **Item Number (SKU)** and **Name** in your default language.
2. **1 · Template** (*Vorlage*): enter the **Template Name** (*Name der Vorlage*). Choose the **Client** (*Mandant*): **— all articles —** (*— alle Artikel —*) exports all articles of your warehouse, your own company under **Logistician** (*Logistiker*) exports only your own articles (articles without an owner), and a company under **Clients** (*Mandanten*) only that client's articles. The dropdown is shown to the logistician only. Switch on **Export active articles only** (*Nur aktive Artikel exportieren*) if inactive articles should be left out.
3. **2 · File format** (*Dateiformat*): click the card **CSV** or **Excel (.xlsx)**.
   - For CSV, also choose the **Separator** (*Trennzeichen*: semicolon, comma, tab or pipe) and the **Text delimiter** (*Textbegrenzer*). Switch on **UTF-8 with BOM** (*UTF-8 mit BOM*) if the file is opened in Excel – otherwise Excel shows umlauts and other special characters wrongly.
   - **First row contains column names** (*Erste Zeile enthält Spaltennamen*) applies to both formats.
4. **3 · Choose columns** (*Spalten wählen*): on the left you see the fields in sections you can expand – *Master data*, *Texts & categories · [language]* (default language first), *Images*, *Stock & storage places* and *Attributes · [group]*. Each section shows how many of its fields are chosen ("x / y").
   - Click a field to add it as the last column of the file; click it again to remove it.
   - The icon in the section header adds all fields of the section (with a search, all fields found).
   - **Search field …** (*Feld suchen …*) filters the fields by name.
5. On the right, **Columns of the file** (*Spalten der Datei*) lists the columns with their letter as in Excel (A, B, C …):
   - Drag a column by its handle or use the arrows to change the order.
   - Type your own **heading** (*Überschrift*) into the field next to the column. Left empty, the column gets the name of the field.
   - Remove a column with ×, or all columns with **Remove all** (*Alle entfernen*).
6. **4 · Preview** (*Vorschau*) shows the first 5 articles with the current, not yet saved settings. It updates with every change; **Update** (*Aktualisieren*) loads it again.
7. Click **Save template** (*Vorlage speichern*) or **Save & download** (*Speichern & herunterladen*) in the bar at the bottom. If something is missing, *Still needs to be filled in* lists it (template name, at least one column).

![Screenshot: Steps "1 · Template" with name, client and "Export active articles only" and "2 · File format" with the cards CSV and Excel, separator, text delimiter and the switches for the first row and UTF-8 with BOM](/products/images/export-templates-step-template.png)

![Screenshot: Step "3 · Choose columns" with the expanded sections "Master data" and "Texts & categories" on the left and the sortable list "Columns of the file" with own headings on the right](/products/images/export-templates-step-columns.png)

![Screenshot: Step "4 · Preview" with the first five articles in the chosen columns](/products/images/export-templates-step-preview.png)

### Download a file

1. In the overview, click **Download file** (*Datei herunterladen*, cloud icon) next to the template.
2. You get the file `<template name>-<YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM>.csv` or `.xlsx`. The column *last export* (*letzter Export*) shows when it was downloaded last.

**Duplicate** (*Duplizieren*) creates a copy named "<name> (copy)" and opens it. **Delete** (*Löschen*) asks for confirmation first.

## Fields and options

| Section / field | Content |
|---|---|
| *Master data*: **Item Number (SKU)**, **Status**, **Owner (client)**, **X-Sitter article ID** | Status as 1 (active) / 0 (inactive) – the import reads it the same way. Owner as the name of the client. |
| *Texts & categories*: **Name**, **Brief description**, **Long Description** | Text of the article in this language |
| **Category 1** … **Category 6** | Levels of the article's **main category** – exactly as the article import reads them. Name in this language, otherwise in the default language. |
| **All categories** (*Alle Kategorien*) | All category paths of the article in one column, e.g. "Kitchen > Pots \| Sale" |
| **Product Family** | Name of the product family |
| *Images*: **Main image (URL)** (*Hauptbild (URL)*) | Public address of the main image – in full size if it is stored in the S3 storage, otherwise the preview image |
| *Stock & storage places*: **Total stock** (*Bestand gesamt*), **Stock · [warehouse]** | Stock in all warehouses or in one warehouse, blocked stock included |
| **Storage places** (*Lagerplätze*) | Places with stock, separated by commas |
| *Attributes · [group]*: the label of the attribute | Value of this attribute field |

## Good to know

- The export runs immediately when you click the download – there is no waiting time and no background job. Even large catalogues with tens of thousands of articles are exported in a few seconds.
- **CSV:** line breaks inside a value become spaces, so every article stays on one line. **Excel:** texts stay texts – item numbers with leading zeros (e.g. `099340`) are kept –, stock values are numbers, and the heading row is bold and stays visible when you scroll.
- Templates created before October 2026 keep working without changes. Their fields are mapped to today's fields when you open or download them; categories now come as *Category 1–6* of the main category in one row (earlier, the export wrote one row per category). Save the template once to store it in the new format.
- The client of a template is checked again with every download. If the client no longer belongs to your company, the template opens with a message and you can choose another client.
- To read article data automatically from your own system, the [API](/api/articles.md) may suit you better than a file download.

| Message | Cause | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| **No fields have been defined yet!** (*Es wurden noch keine Felder definiert!*) | An older template without columns | Choose columns and save the template |
| *Please choose between one and 300 columns.* (*Bitte zwischen einer und 300 Spalten wählen.*) | No or too many columns | Adjust the columns |
| *The selected client does not belong to your company.* (*Der gewählte Mandant gehört nicht zu deiner Firma.*) | The client no longer belongs to your company | Choose another client |
| *No articles found for this selection.* (*Keine Artikel für diese Auswahl gefunden.*) – in the preview | The client has no articles, or only inactive ones with **Export active articles only** | Check client and switch |
| **No templates available yet** (*Noch keine Vorlagen vorhanden*) | You have no export template yet | Click **Create first template** |