Exporting client information is simple with our data export feature. In a solo practice, you can export data for a single client or for all of your clients at once. If you’re in a group practice, you also have the option to export data for all of a primary clinician’s clients.
Exporting your data can help you maintain accurate records or comply with requests from verified third parties such as lawyers, law enforcement agencies, or court systems. Currently, we only export client contact information in the vCard format (.vcf). We’re not able to export data in Excel or CSV file formats at this time.
Note: If you or a team member are switching between SimplePractice accounts (Group to Solo, Solo to Solo, or Solo to Group) and need help exporting data, see our guide for Switching between SimplePractice accounts.
In this guide, we'll cover:
Exporting data for solo practices
To initiate a data export within a solo practice:
- Navigate to Settings > Practice > Data export
- Click Start export
- Choose whether you’d like to export data for All clients in the practice, One client, or All clients for one clinician (for group practices)
- Select the type of export you’d like to perform
| Export types | Information included |
| Complete |
Progress Notes, Psychotherapy Notes, Mental Status Exams, Other documents, Diagnosis and Treatment Plans, Chart Notes, Administrative Notes, client contact information, Insurance Claims, Invoices, Statements, Superbills, Intake Questionnaires, Secure Messages, and Stored Documents |
| Sessions |
Progress Notes, Psychotherapy Notes, Mental Status Exams, Other documents, Diagnosis and Treatment Plans, Chart Notes, and Intake Questionnaires This export type doesn’t contain client contact information |
| Contacts | Client contact information exported in vCard (.vcf) format for easy import into Google, Outlook, and Apple contacts, and other address book programs |
Note: With a Complete export, all Secure Messages for the client(s) will be downloaded. This includes messages sent to any team members within the practice. We highly recommend that you review their file before sharing it with others.
-
The Require a password to open file (recommended) option will be selected by default
- If Require a password to open file (recommended) is selected, a unique password will be required to access the file
- If you’d prefer to opt out of password protecting the file, uncheck the Require a password to open file (recommended) box
- Click Export
Note: Client contact information will appear as a vCard (.vcf file), Secure Messages will appear as a plain text (.txt) file, and all other documents will appear as PDFs. We’re not able to export data in Excel or CSV file formats at this time.
Generating your export will take a few minutes. You'll receive an email notification when the file is ready to download. After receiving this email, return to Settings > Practice > Data export, where you'll see a link to download the file to your computer.
Note: If you receive an error message when opening the exported file, it may be related to your browser settings. We recommend downloading the file using a different supported browser. For more information on supported browsers, see What are the minimum requirements for successfully using SimplePractice?
If you choose to password protect the file, you’ll be prompted to enter the password after downloading the file. When viewing the exported file, the information will be divided into the following folders:
| Folders | Information included |
| Billing Documents |
Insurance Claims, Invoices, Statements, and Superbills If a client has insurance information in their profile, it will be included in this folder |
| Contacts | Client contact information |
| Medical Records |
Progress Notes, Mental Status Exams, Other documents, Diagnosis and Treatment Plans, Administrative Notes, Chart Notes, and Intake Questionnaires |
| Psychotherapy Notes | Any Psychotherapy Notes you have created for each client |
| Secure Messages | Secure Messaging history with each client, contact, and team member within the practice |
| Stored Documents | Any documents you have stored in each client's profile |
Tip: Whether you're looking to cancel your account or simply back up your client records, we recommend performing a data export.
After downloading the data export, you can print any of the included documents. To do this, open the document you'd like to print and select Command P or Control P.
Exporting data for group practices
Only Account Owners and practice managers (with the optional permission enabled) can perform a data export. If you're a clinician that is part of a group practice, you'll need to contact your Account Owner or practice manager to request a data export. If you have multiple clinicians in your practice, you’ll see an option to filter your export by primary clinician.
Note: If you’re exporting data by clinician, the file will include all data for each client they’re assigned to as primary clinician. If a client was seen by multiple clinicians, the data export may include documentation for appointments held by other clinicians, depending on how appointments were scheduled. To learn more about sharing clients while keeping documentation separate, see our guide to Sharing clients. At this time, there’s no option to filter an export by client and clinician.
To initiate a data export within a group practice:
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Navigate to Settings > Practice > Data export
- Any exports generated within the past 48 hours will appear under Recent exports
- Click Start export
- Choose whether you’d like to export data for All clients in the practice, One single client, or All clients for one clinician)
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- If you select All clients for one clinician, use the dropdown menu to Select a primary clinician
- Select the type of export you'd like to perform: Complete, Sessions, or Contacts
| Export types | Information included |
| Complete |
Progress Notes, Psychotherapy Notes, Mental Status Exams, Other documents, Diagnosis and Treatment Plans, Chart Notes, Administrative Notes, client contact information, Insurance Claims, Invoices, Statements, Superbills, Intake Questionnaires, Secure Messages, and Stored Documents |
| Sessions |
Progress Notes, Psychotherapy Notes, Mental Status Exams, Other documents, Diagnosis and Treatment Plans, Chart Notes, and Intake Questionnaires This export type doesn't contain client contact information |
| Contacts |
Client contact information exported in vCard (.vcf) format for easy import into Google, Outlook, and Apple contacts, and other address book programs |
Note: With a Complete export, all Secure Messages for the client(s) will be downloaded. This includes messages sent to any clinician within the practice. If a client is seen by multiple clinicians, we highly recommend that you review their file before sharing it with others.
- This screen is also where you'll indicate whether you'd like to password protect the exported file
- When you're ready, click Export
We’ll send you an email when the file is ready for download at Settings > Practice > Data export.
Note: Client contact information will appear as a vCard (.vcf file), Secure Messages will appear as a plain text (.txt) file, and all other documents will appear as PDFs. We’re not able to export data in Excel or CSV file formats at this time.
FAQs
- Why is my data export asking for a password?
- Where's the data export password? My account password doesn't work for the data export.
- How is client documentation timestamped in a data export?
- Is the data export logged in the Account Activity page?
- Who can perform a data export?
Why is my data export asking for a password?
When you request a data export, the exported file will be protected and encrypted with a secure password. If you don’t want to password protect the data, you can deselect the checkbox next to Require a password to open file (recommended) before clicking Export. We don’t recommend disabling this feature.
Where's the data export password? My account password doesn't work for the data export.
SimplePractice will generate a unique password for each data export. This will be different from your account password.
To view your data export password, navigate to Settings > Practice > Data export. You can click Copy in the Password column, then paste the password into the required field when you open your export.
Note: You’ll also receive an email from SimplePractice with your data export password.
Access to the data export and password will expire from the Data export page after 48 hours. If you can’t locate your data export password or the email containing this information, you’ll need to request a new export.
Important: We aren’t able to retrieve passwords for expired data exports.
How is client documentation timestamped in a data export?
When client documentation is downloaded from a client’s profile or as part of a data export, there are two timestamps included at the bottom of the document: Created on and Last updated on.
The Created on timestamp corresponds with the date and time the document was created. If the document was edited after it was created, the Last updated on timestamp will update accordingly.
You can edit the date and time for chart notes, mental status exams, and diagnosis and treatment plans to accurately reflect when these occurred.
To do this for a chart note, navigate to the client’s Overview page, hover over the entry to click Edit, and adjust the date and time:
For a mental status exam, hover over the entry to click Edit, adjust the Date and time, and select Save Mental Status Exam:
To do this for a diagnosis and treatment place, navigate to the client’s Overview page, open the document in question, and adjust the Date and time of diagnosis fields:
For chart notes, the date and time assigned to the chart note will be reflected at the top of the downloaded document under Noted on. This will appear in addition to the Created on and Last updated on sections at the bottom of the page.
For mental status exams and diagnosis and treatment plans, the downloaded document won’t include a Noted on section and will only show the Created on and Last updated on timestamps.
Note: If you’d like to note when the mental status exam occurred, or when the diagnosis and treatment plan was assigned, we recommend including this information within the text of the MSE or treatment plan.
Is the data export logged in the Account Activity page?
Yes, a data export performed in your SimplePractice account will be logged in the History tab of the Account Activity page. For more information, see Account Activity: Tracking changes and information access in your account.
Who can perform a data export?
Account Owners, and Practice Managers, with the optional permission, are able to perform data exports. To learn more about granting Practice Managers the permission to complete data exports, see Non-clinician roles.