¶ Data Export
Subscription Tier: Starter, Pro
Your Apex Rental Pro data is exactly that, yours. The Data Export feature lets you download a complete snapshot of your data as a ZIP file. This is useful for backups, migrating data, auditing records, or keeping local copies of your documents.
¶ What Gets Exported
When you run an export, the we'll generates a ZIP archive containing:
¶ Raw Data (JSON files)
data/users.json— all user accountsdata/events.json— all events with full detailsdata/items.json— all inventory itemsdata/quotes.json— all saved quotesdata/contracts.json— all contracts (including signing data)data/layouts.json— all layout designer layoutsdata/time_entries.json— all time clock entriesdata/customers.json— customer records
¶ PDF Documents
quotes/quote-{id}.pdf— a generated quote PDF for every event that has quote datacontracts/contract-{id}.pdf— a generated contract PDF for every contract on record
¶ Layout PDFs
layouts/layout-{id}.pdf— a PDF rendering of every layout that has data
¶ Error Log (if any)
errors/export-errors.txt— if any individual item fails to export, the error is logged here. The ZIP still downloads successfully even if some individual exports fail.
¶ Running an Export
- Navigate to Settings > Data Export (or the Export section in the sidebar).
- Click Export All Data.
- The server generates the ZIP in the background while streaming it to your browser.
- A file named
data-export-{YYYY-MM-DD}.zipdownloads automatically.
The export may take a moment if you have a large dataset or many layouts/contracts to render.
¶ Using the Exported Data
The JSON files are plain, human-readable JSON arrays. Each object in the array represents one record from your account. You can:
- Open them in any text editor
- Import into spreadsheet software (using a JSON-to-CSV converter)
- Import into another rental software (
) - Use them as a backup to restore data if needed
The PDF files are fully rendered documents with your business branding, suitable for archiving.
¶ Gotchas
- Exports are full snapshots: Every export is a complete snapshot of all current data. There's no incremental export or date-filtered export — you always get everything.
- Export is admin-only: Only admin users can trigger a data export. Employee roles don't have access to this feature.
- Partial failures don't abort the ZIP: If a single PDF fails to render (e.g., a layout with corrupt data), the export continues and includes the rest of the files. The failed item is logged in
errors/export-errors.txt. Check this file if you notice missing documents in your export. - Sensitive data is included: The export includes everything — customer names, email addresses, phone numbers, pricing, contract signing data (including signer IPs), and employee wage data. Treat exported files with the same security care as your live account data.
- Passwords are protected: User passwords are stored using one-way encryption — they're never readable in plain text and cannot be recovered from the export.
- Large datasets take time: If you have hundreds of events and contracts, the export may take a minute or more. Don't close the browser tab while the download is in progress.
- Layout export requires layout data: Layouts are only exported as PDFs if they have valid canvas data. Layouts created but never populated will export as JSON but may fail PDF rendering. These failures are captured in the error log.