# Import and export a website

Move a website between workspaces as a file, and validate one before importing.

For: People moving sites between workspaces or accounts

## The website file

A website can be downloaded as a single file: all the pages, sections, theme and wording, saved as ordinary JSON. It is the same format in both directions, so an export from one workspace is an import into another, which is how a site moves between accounts without retyping anything.

Pictures keep their media folders in the file, nested folders included, and importing recreates them. The file does not include messages, domains, or licence and billing details, and it never includes anyone's password. Files can be large, up to 67 MB, which is several thousand pages of ordinary content.

Walkthrough: What the website file is (Importing a website file)

1. **One file, the whole site**: Pages, sections, theme and wording as ordinary JSON: the same format in both directions.
2. **Checked before anything happens**: The import dialog counts pages, images and a blog, and holds the button until the file is understood.
3. **Openly documented**: The JSON guide and schema are there for anyone generating a site rather than typing one.

Note: The format is open and documented. The developer pages carry the full JSON guide and schema for anyone building a site by generation rather than by hand.

## Downloading a website file

Download website file sits in the website Settings, under Export. One click produces the file for the site as it stands, drafts included: the file holds the working copy rather than the last published version.

Keep downloads somewhere that matches the file's content. It is a copy of a real website, not a trade secret, but it is nobody else's either.

Walkthrough: Downloading a copy (Importing a website file)

1. **Download website file**: In website Settings, under Export: the draft as it stands, not the last published version. Messages, domains and plan details stay behind.
2. **Keep it somewhere sensible**: A copy of a real website is worth keeping somewhere the site itself would be expected.

Note: Export before a big change is a cheap insurance policy, next to version history which covers publishing.

## Importing a website file

Import website on the Websites page opens the import dialog: choose the file, and CubeSites shows what it contains before anything is created. Pages, images and a blog are counted, the file is checked, and importing stays disabled until it is understood.

If the file needs changes, Validate a JSON file in the site Settings reports the exact fields that need attention, with the path of each problem.

Walkthrough: Importing a file (Importing a website file)

1. **Import website**: From the Websites page, beside New website, because that is what it makes: a new website.
2. **Choose the file**: Up to 67 MB, version 1 or 2 of the format. The dialog previews what it contains.
3. **Then open it**: Open website overview takes you to the new site, ready for a plan and a first publish. An import never overwrites anything.

Warning: An import creates a new website in the workspace. It never overwrites an existing site, which is deliberate: imports cannot lose current work.

## Can I use the file to build a site somewhere else entirely?

The JSON is documented and readable, so yes, to the extent that anything can consume it. Only CubeSites renders it natively.

## Does importing a file use a licence?

Yes. It creates a website like any other, so it takes a spare licence. Then build and preview normally, and publish when it is ready.

## Related guides

- [Save and reuse a template](/help/templates/save-and-reuse-a-template)
- [Automate with the API](/help/integrations/automate-with-the-api)
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Contact: hello@cubesites.co.uk | 01234 672 617 | https://cubesites.co.uk/contact